UC-NRLF 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

-by- 

FRED  M.  GERLACH,  A.  M. 


STUDIES  IN  EDUCATION  AND  PSYCHOLOGY 
Colorado  College. 

Edited  by 
J.  V.  BREITWIESER,  PH.  D. 


Number  One 
1917. 


Colorado  Springs, 
Colo. 


Copyright,  1917 
By  FRED  M.  GERLACH 

Published  April,  1917 
EDUCATION 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

Preface 5 

Introduction 7 

General  Discussion 11 

False  Definition  Test 44 

Conclusions 71 

APPENDIX  : 

Laboratory  Test  Sheet  A. 81 

Key  to  Laboratory  Test  Sheet  A 112 

Laboratory  Test  Sheet  B 114 

Laboratory  Test  Sheet  C 118 

Bibliography  .  120 


54P.J40 


PREFACE. 

The  following  treatise  on  Vocabulary  Studies  was 
prepared,  in  the  main,  as  a  partial  requirement  for 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  at  Colorado  College, 
and  was  submitted  for  approval  in  June,  1915.  Since 
that  date  there  have  appeared  several  articles  bear- 
ing upon  the  subject;  likewise  certain  additional  mi- 
nor investigations  have  been  conducted  by  the 
writer.  Comment  upon  these  articles  and  investi- 
gations appears  from  time  to  time  in  this  treatise 
in  the  form  of  inter-paragraphical  notes.  It  has 
been  the  writer's  purpose  to  bring  this  discussion  on 
vocabularies  up  to  date. 

The  parenthetical  numbers  refer  to  the  bibliog- 
raphy at  the  end  of  the  treatise.  Thus  (1)  refers 
to  reference  number  1,  that  is,  Babbitt,  E.  H. ;  Pop. 
Sci.  Mo. ;  Apr.  1907 ;  70 ;  378 ;  A  Vocabulary  Test. 

The  experiments  undertaken  by  the  writer  were, 
for  the  most  part,  conducted  during  the  spring 
months  of  1915.  They  were  carried  on  under  the 
general  direction  of  the  Department  of  Psychology 
and  Education  at  Colorado  College,  Colorado 
Springs,  Colo.  The  subjects  tested  were,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  students  of  Colorado  College  or  of  the 
Colorado  Springs  High  School. 

Colorado  Springs 

April,  1917.  F.  M.  G. 


PART  I. 
INTRODUCTION. 


A  word  represents  an  idea.  The  nature  of  a 
man's  ideas  determines  the  nature  of  his  words.  The 
mind  of  a  man,  the  mind  of  a  people,  is  reflected  in 
the  language  of  the  man,  the  language  of  the  people. 
Good  words  are  begotten  by  good  thoughts;  evil 
words  arise  from  evil  thoughts.  The  source  of  an 
idea  is  at  the  same  time  the  source  of  the  word  to  ex- 
press that  idea.  Thought  and  language  are  insepar- 
able. As  a  man's  character  is,  such  is  the  nature  of 
his  true  vocabulary. 

An  idea  is  represented  by  a  word ;  a  group  or  com- 
bination of  ideas  is  represented  by  a  group  or  com- 
bination of  words.  The  larger  a  man's  vocabulary, 
the  greater  the  number  of  his  specific  ideas.  He 
who  has  an  immense  vocabulary  not  only  has  a  great 
number  of  specific  ideas,  but  also  has  the  possibili- 
ties of  an  enormous  number  of  combinations  of 
words — that  is,  combinations  of  ideas.  Similarly, 
for  him  who  has  a  small  vocabulary  the  number  of 
possible  combinations  of  ideas  is  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum. This  faculty  for  the  combination  or  group- 
ing of  ideas  may  be  called  general  intelligence. 
Clearly,  the  vocabulary  furnishes  us  the  best  basis 
for  the  measurement  of  general  intelligence. 

The  child,  immediately  upon  entering  the  world, 
makes  his  presence  known  by  a  cry.  This  cry  is 
merely  a  reflex  act,  induced  by  the  new  and  strange 
conditions  to  which  the  vocal  apparatus  of  the  child 


8  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

is  suddenly  and  rudely  subjected.  But  the  cry  soon 
becomes  differentiated,  assuming  different  propor- 
tions and  varied  intonations  to  express  different 
mental  states.  Later,  with  the  coming  of  definite 
ideas  we  find  the  entrance  of  words  to  express  them. 
The  crys  and  babblings  assume  a  more  articulate 
character.  The  child's  vocabulary  is  being  estab- 
lished. 

Speech  is  not  inherited.  To  some  degree  it  is 
probably  instinctive.  The  general  neural  paths  fa- 
vorable to  the  development  of  speech  are  formed  in 
the  embryonic  stage.  But  the  actual  development 
of  speech  must  begin  after  birth.  Language  arises 
with  ideas.  Why  does  the  new-born  child  not  talk? 
The  psychological  reason  is  that  he  is  devoid  of 
ideas.  He  really  has  nothing  to  say.  There  is  also  a 
physiological  reason.  Even  though  the  child  had 
ideas  he  could  not  express  them  vocally,  for  his 
speech-apparatus  is  as  yet  too  imperfectly  develop- 
ed. Not  only  must  the  child  acquire  ideas,  but  he 
must  also  acquire  the  motor  co-ordinations  to  ex- 
press those  ideas — those  otherwise  unspoken  words. 
On  the  cortical  surface  of  the  brain,  just  over  and 
slightly  back  of  each  temple,  lies  a  small  area  known 
as  the  convolution  of  Broca  and  recognized  by  psy- 
chologists as  the  speech  center.  All  about  this  con- 
volution there  is  a  series  of  highly  complex  motor 
centers  which  utilize  secondary  motor  centers  in  the 
face,  setting  them  to  work  in  varying  combinations. 
Next  to  the  motor  centers  for  the  face,  in  the  anter- 
ior-central gyre,  we  find  the  highly  differentiated 
motor  centers  for  the  hand  (37).  Thus  we  find  that 
the  motor  centers  for  the  face  and  for  the  hand  are 
closely  related  to  those  having  to  do  with  vocaliza- 
tion. Witness  facial  expression  and  the  universal 
use  of  gestures.  An  idea,  a  word,  may  be  expressed 
by  means  other  than  vocal. 

Language  has  been  defined  by  Broca  as,  "The  fac- 
ulty of  establishing  a  constant  relation  between  an 
idea  and  a  sign"  (36).  Yocum  says,  "The  number 


INTRODUCTION  9 

and  kind  of  words  in  a  teacher's  vocabulary  largely 
determine  his  thinking  by  limiting  or  increasing  the 
amount  of  experience  which  he  will  retain  and  the 
possibility  of  its  being  related  to  other  experi- 
ence" (63).  The  application  of  the  thought  express- 
ed in  this  quotation  need  not,  as  is  quite  evident,  be 
confined  to  teachers.  Rankin  makes  the  following 
statement:  "Whether  the  relationship  be  that  of 
cause  to  effect,  of  effect  to  cause,  or  of  mixed  cause 
and  effect,  the  fact  is  very  evident  that  broad  schol- 
arship, and  even  mere  general  culture,  is  always  ac- 
companied by  the  mastery  of  a  wide  vocabulary" 
(51).  It  is  asserted  by  Tracy  that  "Thought  itself 
cannot  attain  to  any  great  degree  of  generality  with- 
out the  aid  of  language.  Thought  and  language  are 
mutually  helpful,  and  conduce  each  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  other"  (57).  And  Beyer  says,  "It  can 
not  be  doubted  that  thought  and  language  are  in- 
separable. It  does  not  greatly  matter  whether  one 
puts  thought,  the  egg,  or  language,  the  hen,  first. 
No  language,  that  is,  no  symbols,  no  thought ;  vague, 
blunderbuss,  generic  symbols, — vague,  blunderbuss, 
double-pointed  thought;  sharp,  fine,  distinct  words, 
sharp,  fine,  distinct  thought"  (8) .  Additional  state- 
ments of  a  similar  nature  might  be  quoted.  But 
wherefore?  A  little  introspection  should  be  suffi- 
cient to  convince  anyone  of  the  relation  between 
idea  and  word — of  the  important  connection  vocab- 
ulary bears  toward  thought. 

It  is  the  writer's  purpose  in  this  brief  treatise  to 
confine  himself  almost  wholly  to  the  study  of  actual 
vocabularies,  making  certain  observations  concern- 
ing their  growth  and  size,  the  relation  between  vo- 
cabularies and  arbitrary  grades  as  found  in  schools 
and  colleges,  age  and  sex  influences,  and  the  like. 
First  the  results  attained  by  a  number  of  other  per- 
sons interested  in  this  same  line  of  work  will  be  pre- 
sented. Then  will  be  shown  the  results  of  certain 
vocabulary  experiments  carried  on  by  the  writer,  in 
conjunction  with  Dr.  J.  V.  Breitwieser,  at  Colorado 


10  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

College.  This  will  be  followed  by  comparisons,  com- 
ments, and  conclusions.  And  finally,  as  an  appen- 
dix, will  be  found  the  actual  vocabulary  test  as  it 
was  used  in  the  Psychological  Laboratories  of  Colo- 
rado College. 


PART  II. 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION. 


In  few  fields  of  research  do  we  find  such  a  discrep- 
ancy of  opinion  as  we  find  among  the  various  guess- 
es, estimates,  and  calculations  in  regard  to  the  size 
of  vocabularies.  On  the  one  hand  eminent  educa- 
tors adhere  to  the  belief  that  an  average  person  has 
a  vocabulary  of  only  several  hundred  words,  at  best 
perhaps  a  thousand.  On  the  other  hand  equally  em- 
inent educators  assert  that  man  has  at  his  command 
any  one  of  a  hundred  thousand  words — or  perhaps 
even  twice  that  number.  Why  has  there  been  such 
a  difference  of  opinion,  such  a  diversity  of  conclu- 
sions? Largely  because  there  has  been  such  a  di- 
versity of  method  in  arriving  at  these  conclusions. 
Many  of  the  more  or  less  absurd  theories  and  opin- 
ions advanced  by  so-called  "investigators"  of  vocab- 
ularies could  scarcely  have  been  reached  by  any  oth- 
er method  save  that  of  pure  and  exceedingly  simple 
guesswork.  Nevertheless  we  find  that  even  those 
students  of  vocabularies  who  have  gone  about  their 
investigations  thoroughly  and  systematically  arrive 
at  conclusions  not  at  all  in  harmony  with  each  other. 
Perhaps  such  a  state  of  affairs  is  to  be  expected. 
For  as  yet  comparatively  little  of  a  definite  nature 
has  been  done  in  the  study  of  vocabularies.  In  view 
of  this  fact  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  make  reliable 
generalizations,  and  to  arrive  at  correspondingly 
trustworthy  conclusions.  It  is  regretable  that  a 
subject  of  such  wide-spread  interest  and  such  uni- 


12  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

versal  importance  has  been  so  neglected.  Accurate 
measurements  for  physical  power  are  common;  ac- 
curate measurements  for  mental  capacity  are  un- 
known. At  best,  measurements  of  intellect  are  but 
approximations.  This,  however,  need  not  deter  us 
in  our  efforts  to  discover  something  further  to  add 
to  the  meagre  knowledge  which  we  have  concerning 
the  human  mind ;  it  need  not  hinder  us  in  our  search 
for  some  system  of  measurement,  however  imper- 
fect it  may  be,  which  will  enable  us  to  determine  to 
even  a  slight  degree  the  ccope  of  human  intellect. 
And  when  we  consider  the  fact  that  even  the  most 
accurate  physical  measurements  are  relative,  our 
problems  concerning  the  intellect  assume  a  less  for- 
bidding aspect.  However  meagre  the  attempt  may 
be,  it  is  surely  worth  while  to  make  an  honest  effort 
to  throw  some  light  upon  the  subject — to  aid  in  the 
unraveling  of  one  thread  of  the  great  tangled  skein. 

Let  us  pause  for  a  momentary  inspection  of  a  few 
of  the  highly  interesting,  though  varyingly  instruc- 
tive, guesses  and  more  or  less  haphazard  estimates 
as  to  the  number  of  words  comprising  a  vocabulary. 
Then  we  shall  review  briefly  a  number  of  the  actual 
vocabulary  tests  which  have  been  made  by  various 
men  and  women. 

To  quote  from  Brown :  "For  the  past  two  or  three 
decades  many  books  on  the  English  language,  Eng- 
lish composition,  and  public  speaking  have  'estimat- 
ed' the  working-man's  vocabulary  at  five  or  six  hun- 
dred words,  and  the  college  student's  at  one  thou- 
sand or  twelve  hundred.  In  a  public  address  only  a 
year  ago  an  officer  in  one  of  our  larger  universities 
declared  that  'the  average  senior'  in  that  institution 
'did  not  employ  more  than  eight  hundred  or  a  thou- 
sand words  in  all  the  writing  and  speaking  involved 
in  the  various  activities  of  his  life'  "(13). 

Dean  Alvord,  according  to  Rankin,  stated  that  che 
working  men  of  his  acquaintance  used  scarcely  two 
hundred  words  in  all.  Rankin  is  also  authority  for 
the  statement  made  by  a  well-known  American  edu- 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  13 

cational  writer  to  the  effect  that  a  man  may  con- 
verse very  well  with  a  vocabulary  of  only  seventy- 
five  words!  Rankin  offers  the  following  comment: 
"Ridiculous  as  is  such  a  statement,  the  ever-unsci- 
entific public  gulps  it  down  with  avidity  and  sighs 
comfortably  in  the  assurance  that  it  has  seventy-five 
usable  ideas  all  tagged  with  their  proper  word-signs. 
It  does  not  occur  to  the  public — who  prefer  ideas 
and  clothes  both  ready-to-wear — that  the  baby  of 
eighteen  months  is  usually  in  good  command  of 
more  than  seventy-five  words,  yet  is  not  able  to  'con- 
verse very  well '  "  (51) . 

Max  Muller  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  an 
English  clergyman  declares  the  laborers  in  his  par- 
ish did  not  use  over  three  hundred  words  (45) ,  while 
dean  Farrar  has  stated  that  the  English  laborers 
carry  on  their  conversation  with  not  more  than  one 
hundred  words  (18).  What  a  lively  conversation  it 
must  be! 

Doran  claims  to  have  formed  the  acquaintance  of 
a  parrot  that  could  speak  59  words — four-fifths  as 
many  as  are  required,  according  to  our  noted  "edu- 
cational writer"  whose  name  has  been  withheld,  in 
order  to  "converse  very  well"  (18) .  And,  if  we  may 
believe  Gardner,  the  anthropoid  apes  are  not  far  be- 
hind ;  for  according  to  his  assertion  apes  have  a  vo- 
cabulary of  25  or  30  words  (18).  It  is  remarkable 
how  little  advanced  beyond  the  simian  stage  -certain 
persons  rate  the  lower  strata  of  human  society. 

A  New  York  paper  once  made  the  assertion  that 
the  number  of  words  actually  needed  to  get  along  in 
business  was  3,500(18)  ;  while  according  to  Beyer, 
"In  a  reputable  magazine  a  few  years  ago  the  state- 
ment was  made  that  three  hundred  words  were 
enough  to  enable  the  average  person  to  carry  on  all 
the  business  of  life."  Beyer  is  inclined  to  think  that 
the  "working  dictionary"  of  a  cultured  person  must 
comprise  about  4,500  to  5,000  words  (8). 


14  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

Baird  says  the  total  number  of  words  needed  by  a 
tourist  in  a  foreign  country  is  650.  This  is  intended 
to  indicate  merely  the  number  of  words  actually 
needed  to  get  along  with  (2) . 

George  P.  Marsh  about  forty  years  ago  stated 
that  few  writers  or  speakers  used  as  many  as  10,- 
000  words,  ordinary  persons  using  only  about  3,000 
or  4,000.  He  says  that  Shakespeare  used  only  15,000 
words  in  his  literature,  while  Milton  used  only  8,000 
(40).  These  statements  made  by  Marsh  have  been 
disproved  by  later  writers.  Dr.  Edward  S.  Holden 
declares  that  Shakespeare  used  over  24,000  words, 
and  Milton,  in  his  poems  alone,  used  11,377(27). 
Doran  found  in  Milton's  works  12,800  different 
words.  He  further  claims  that  Cowper  used  11,284 
words  and  Shelley  15,957.  In  Tennyson's  works  he 
found  a  total  of  10,574  words,  excluding  all  proper 
names  not  found  in  the  dictionary.  Only  a  few  of 
Tennyson's  minor  poems  and  only  a  few  of  his  trans- 
lations are  included  in  the  Concordance  from  which 
this  calculation  is  made  (18) . 

In  the  French,  so  Dr.  Edwin  S.  Du  Poncot  asserts, 
Victor  Hugo  used  in  Notre  Dame  27,000  words ;  Du 
Poncot  estimates  that  in  all  of  his  works  Hugo  must 
have  used  38,000  different  words  (18) .  It  is  said  that 
Victor  Hugo  actually  created  as  many  as  fifteen  hun- 
dred new  forms  of  expression  (54). 

Several  authors  agree  that  the  vocabularies  of  in- 
telligent, cultured  people,  especially  those  of  liter- 
ary taste,  contain  from  25,000  to  30,000  words  (18). 
Professor  E.  A.  Kirkpatrick  says  that  for  ordinary 
reading  one  needs  from  6,000  to  10,000  words.  He 
estimates  that  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  having 
a  common  school  education  would  know  about  10,000 
words,  and  a  well-read  college  graduate  and  those 
who  have  pursued  a  university  course  would  know 
from  20,000  to  100,000(35).  These  theories  ad- 
vanced by  Kirkpatrick  almost  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury ago  have  been  partially  confirmed  by  actual 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  15 

vocabulary  tests  conducted  by  him  in  more  recent 
years  (33). 

We  are  somewhat  prone  to  believe  that  foreign 
languages,  even  the  most  modern,  have  a  much 
smaller  number  of  words  than  are  to  be  found  in  the 
English.  Dr.  R.  J.  Kellogg,  however,  is  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  vocabularies  of  such  languages  as  the 
French,  German  and  Spanish  are  practically  as 
large  as  that  of  the  English.  There  is  scarcely  a 
word  in  the  English  that  does  not  have  its  equiva- 
lent in  those  languages,  and  almost  every  thought 
of  an  Englishman  may  be  expressed  by  a  French- 
man, a  German,  or  a  Spaniard  (18). 

There  is  also  a  general  belief  that  the  number  of 
words  in  the  language  of  a  primitive  people  is  very 
small.  The  vocabulary  of  an  aborigine  is  supposed 
to  be  remarkable  chiefly  for  its  meagerness,  verg- 
ing to  non-entity.  Chamberlain,  however,  furnish- 
es us  with  data  relating  to  the  number  of  words  in 
use  among  various  Indian  tribes.  This  data  is  based 
upon  dictionaries  of  the  Indian  languages.  The  to- 
tal number  of  words  in  each  of  the  various  tribal 
languages  considered  varies  from  10,000  to  40,000, 
the  average  being  well  over  20,000(14).  These  es- 
timates are  probably  too  low,  for  the  dictionaries 
were  very  incomplete.  About  eight  or  ten  tribal 
languages  were  considered.  A.  G.  Morice  in  his 
studies  of  the  Dene  languages  says  the  Carrier 
tribe's  vocabulary  contains  150,000  verbal  terms 
(44).  It  might  likewise  be  well  to  note  that  in  the 
Chinese  language,  which  has  a  separate  sign  for 
each  word,  the  total  number  of  characters  is  usually 
estimated  at  about  25,000  ;  however,  considering  as 
totally  different  those  characters  to  which  a  stress 
mark  gives  a  different  meaning,  other  estimates 
place  the  number  at  260,000(42). 

Estimates  of  child  vocabularies  present  as  inter- 
a  disagreement  as  do  those  for  the  vocabu- 


lar        an  a(^u^-     The  average  person,  says  Beyer, 


16  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

guesses  a  two-year-old  child's  vocabulary  to  be  about 
fifty  words.  Many  claim  that  it  does  not  exceed 
twenty-five;  while  a  few  persons  are  generous 
enough  to  give  the  child  credit  for  knowing  two  hun- 
dred words  at  two  years  of  age  (8).  Whipple  once 
asked  two  of  his  friends  how  many  words  an  ordi- 
nary three-year-old  boy  could  use.  Th-2  first  of  his 
friends  ventured  to  place  his  guess  at  150 ;  the  other 
greeted  this  estimate  with  derision  and  declared 
that  fifty  words  would  cover  the  vocabulary  of  any 
three-year-old  child  (60).  Laurie,  based  on  the  au- 
thority of  Max  Muller,  claims,  in  his  "Lectures  on 
Language  and  Linguistic  Methods",  that  "In  the 
child  up  to  the  eighth  year  the  range  of  language  is 
very  small ;  he  probably  confines  himself  to  not  more 
than  150  words"  (60).  On  the  other  hand  we  find 
Luckens  reporting  the  assertion  of  Dr.  Elmer  Gates 
to  the  effect  that  his  boy  knew  11,000  words  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one  months! (39). 

It  is  evident  that  from  such  a  wealth  of  diversity 
of  opinion  as  has  been  presented  thus  far,  little  of  a 
definite  nature  can  be  determined  concerning  the 
actual  size  of  a  vocabulary,  whether  it  be  the  vocab- 
ulary of  an  adult  or  that  of  a  child.  In  order  to  ob- 
tain adequate  conclusions  we  must  seek  further  than 
mere  guesses,  and  estimates  without  foundation. 
Actual  vocabulary  tests,  and  studies  in  vocabularies, 
must  be  considered.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  these 
tests  and  studies  produce  widely  differing  results 
it  may  be  possible,  by  conservative  generalizations, 
to  arrive  at  some  comparatively  trustworthy  con- 
clusions. 

At  what  age  does  a  human  being  begin  to  speak? 
Tracy  tells  of  a  child,  a  girl,  who  when  only  fifteen 
days  old  had  a  peculiar  sort  of  cry  for  expressing 
her  desire  to  be  fed.  In  another  case  the  feelings  of 
hunger,  cold,  pain,  joy,  and  desire  were  expressed 
by  different  sounds  before  the  end  of  the  fifth  week 
(58) .  Professor  Whipple  claims  that  his  son,  Ri"1 
ard,  said  "Mamma"  at  the  age  of  seven  and  ^al 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  17 

months;  Whipple  thinks,  however,  that  this  may 
have  been  mere  accident (60).  Dr.  E.  C.  Hills  says 
his  daughter,  Ruth,  used  six  words  when  eight 
months  of  age  (26).  George  C.  Brandenburg  in  the 
study  of  his  child  found  that  the  first  word  she  pro- 
nounced with  evident  understanding  was  "Bye-bye" 
at  ten  months  (11).  Beyer,  in  commenting  upon  the 
language  of  his  son,  Thomas,  claims  that  at  the  end 
of  one  year  after  birth  the  child's  vocabulary  "con- 
sisted of  not  more  than  20  symbols,  of  which  about 
10  were  English ;  the  others,  the  language  of  infan- 
try, more  or  less  conventionalized  in  his  own  usage" 
(8). 

The  age  at  which  speech  begins  varies  in  different 
individuals.  In  some,  articulate  language  commences 
during  the  sixth  or  seventh  month;  others  can  not 
speak  a  single  word  when  they  are  ten  months  or  a 
year  old.  Girls  usually  learn  to  talk  at  an  earlier 
age  than  do  boys.  Even  after  speech  has  begun  its 
development  varies  greatly  in  different  individuals; 
with  some  the  progress  is  very  rapid,  while  with 
others  it  is  exceedingly  slow.  These  are  some  of 
the  explanations  why  tests  of  child  vocabularies  car- 
ried on  by  different  people  with  different  subjects  so 
largely  fail  in  conformity  of  results.  It  is  also  well 
to  note  that  the  number  of  individuals  considered  is 
too  small  to  permit  satisfactory  generalizations  and 
conclusions. 

The  following  method  used  by  Professor  and  Mrs. 
Guy  Montrose  Whipple  in  their  study  of  the  vocabu- 
lary of  their-  three-year-old  son  will  serve  to  illus- 
trate a  very  practical  manner  in  which  the  study  of 
a  child's  vocabulary  may  be  undertaken.  This  meth- 
od, or  one  very  similar  to  it,  has  been  followed  by  a 
number  of  the  most  reliable  contributors  to  this 
phase  of  vocabulary  study.  They  proceeded  thus: 
Twenty-six  blank  sheets,  one  for  each  letter  of  the 
,  were  prepared,  and  for  ten  days  prior  to 
third  birthday  anniversary  the  words 
Mm  were  recorded.  To  this  list  were  added 


18  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

those  words  which  it  was  known  he  had  used  previ- 
ously, in  each  instance  making  sure  that  the  words 
had  not  been  forgotten  by  artificially  producing  an 
occasion  for  their  use.  Finally,  a  number  of  words 
were  selected  from  several  child's  vocabularies  that 
had  been  published.  These  words  were  similarly 
tested  before  they  were  added  to  the  list.  Plurals 
formed  regularly  were  excluded;  other  inflected 
endings,  grammatical  variants  and  compounds, 
such  as  tall,  taller,  tallest,  and  go,  going,  gone,  were 
included.  Many  students  of  child  vocabularies  do 
not  include  inflections  as  distinct  words.  Whipple 
makes  the  following  comment:  "It  seems  unneces- 
sary to  point  out  that,  psychologically  speaking,  re- 
lated forms  like  these  are  just  as  much  distinct  ac- 
quisitions for  the  child  as  are  totally  different  words 
such  as  tall  and  short;  the  principles  of  exclusion 
that  have  been  adopted  by  some  compilers  of  chil- 
dren's vocabularies,  notably  Holden,  may  be  gram- 
matically, but  they  are  not  psychologically,  justifi- 
able" (60). 

One  of  the  most  recent,  as  well  as  thorough,  inves- 
tigations in  child  vocabulary  was  the  one  carried  on 
by  Beyer,  in  the  study  of  his  son,  Thomas  Lynn 
Beyer,  during  the  twenty-third  and  twenty-fourth 
months.  Beyer  used  the  same  method  as  employed 
by  Whipple  (60),  with  the  important  exception  that 
inflected  forms  were  treated  as  distinct  words  only 
when  there  was  a  radical  umlaut  or  internal  change, 
as  in  foot  and  feet.  Present  participles  were  not 
included.  Using  this  method,  the  child's  vocabulary 
at  two  years  of  age  was  found  to  consist  of  771 
words.  At  the  end  of  one  year  after  birth,  as  has 
been  previously  mentioned,  the  child  had  command 
of  about  20  symbols.  At  seventeen  months  this 
number  had  been  increased  to  160 — an  increase  of 
700  per  cent  in  five  months.  At  the  end  of  two 
years  his  vocabulary  amounted  to  771  words,  this 
being  38  times  the  number  at  one  year,  and  almost 
five  times  the  number  at  seventeen  months.  The 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  19 

actual  number  of  words  learned  from  the  seven- 
teenth to  the  twenty-fourth  months  was  more  than 
four  times  as  great  as  the  number  learned  from  the 
twelfth  to  the  seventeenth.  Beyer  comments  thus : 
"If  he  should  merely  maintain  the  same  rate  of  in- 
crease during  his  third  year,  an  eventuality  alto- 
gether to  be  expected  of  a  normal  child  in  health, 
1055  words  will  be  added  during  the  year,  making  a 
total  of  1826,  a  number  astonishingly  close  to  the 
1771  words  actually  recorded  by  Professor  Whipple 
in  the  use  of  his  three-year-old  son.  If  it  is  true,  as 
Professor  Whipple  says  and  as  child-psychology 
regularly  assumes,  that  the  period  between  the  sec- 
ond and  third  birthday  witnesses  the  greatest  ex- 
pansion in  thought-symbols,  then  we  must  place  the 
probable  limit  much  higher,  possibly  from  2200  to 
2500.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  first  two  weeks  after 
the  child's  second  anniversary,  he  learned  about 
eighty  words,  an  acceleration  nearly  twice  as  great 
as  that  of  his  former  average ;  and  during  the  25th 
month,  nearly  two  hundred,  almost  trebling  the  for- 
mer rate"  (8).* 

Dr.  E.  C.  Hills  made  a  very  thorough  study  of  the 
speech  of  his  daughter  beginning  on  the  second  an- 
niversary of  her  birthday  and  continuing  his  obser- 
vations for  a  period  of  ten  days.  Only  the  words  act- 
ually used  by  the  child  during  that  period  were  re- 
corded. Some  objects  were  pointed  out  and  she  was 
asked  to  tell  their  names,  but  in  no  case  was  a  name 
given  to  her  while  the  test  was  in  progress.  Fur- 
thermore, all  the  words  used  by  the  child  during  the 
period  under  consideration  had  been  acquired  by 
her  without  effort  on  the  part  of  her  parents,  with 
the  exception  of  the  cardinal  numerals  from  1  to  10 
and  the  names  of  some  of  the  common  colors.  When 
eight  months  old  the  child  had  used  six  words, 
though,  as  might  be  expected ,  her  pronunciation 

*Later  studies  by  Beyer  have  an  important  bearing  on  the 
above  statements.  Cf.  page  26. 


20  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

was  imperfect.  At  two  years  of  age,  during  the 
period  under  observation,  she  used  a  total  of  321 
words.  Dr.  Hills  classifies  the  vocabulary  as  fol- 
lows :  proper  nouns,  9 ;  common  nouns,  173 ;  person- 
al pronouns,  4;  limiting  adjectives,  26;  descriptive 
adjectives,  23;  verbs,  59;  adverbs,  11;  conjunction, 
1 ;  prepositions,  8 ;  exclamations,  7.  Of  the  321 
words  used  by  the  child,  228  were  of  one  syllable; 
76  of  two  syllables;  one  of  four  syllables;  and  16 
compound.  Dr.  Hills  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  child 
used  ten  imperative  sentences  to  one  indicative  sen- 
tence (26). 

At  the  age  of  three  the  son  of  Professor  and  Mrs. 
Whipple  had,  according  to  the  tests  undertaken  by 
his  parents,  a  vocabulary  of  1771  words.  His  first 
word  had  been  pronounced  at  seve,n  and  a  half 
months ;  four  words  were  used  at  eleven  and  a  half 
months;  fifteen  words  constituted  his  vocabulary  at 
the  end  of  the  first  year.  On  his  second  birthday 
the  attempt  to  record  the  words  used  by  him  was 
given  up,  for  in  the  first  fifteen  minutes,  when  no 
one  talked  to  him,  he  used  154  words,  98  of  which 
were  different.  As  is  quite  evident,  vocabularies 
depend  largely  upon  interest  and  environment.  Thus 
we  find  that  in  this  child's  vocabulary,  out  of  a  total 
of  1771  words  the  number  which  had  been  acquired 
in  connection  with  eating  amounted  to  215 — over  12 
per  cent  of  the  whole.  The  total  vocabulary  was 
classified  thus:  nouns,  993;  verbs,  391;  adjectives, 
209 ;  adverbs,  89 ;  pronouns,  33 ;  prepositions,  24 ; 
interjections,  24;  conjunctions  and  articles,  8(60). 

According  to  Brandenburg,  "The  percentages  of 
the  different  parts  of  speech  (if  one  counts  the  verb 
forms  printed  in  small  capitals)  in  the  dictionary 
are  about  as  follows:  nouns  48.4  per  cent;  verbs, 
27.5  per  cent;  adjectives,  18.6  per  cent;  adverbs, 
4.9  per  cent;  pronouns,  .2  per  cent;  prepositions, 
.1  per  cent;  interjections,  .1  per  cent;  conjunctions, 
.05  per  cent"  (11).  These  results  were  obtained 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  21 

through  the  examination  of  several  of  the  leading 
dictionaries. 

Brandenburg  found  that  at  the  age  of  three  his 
daughter  had  a  total  vocabulary  of  2282  words.  Of 
the  entire  number,  a  trifle  over  50  per  cent  were 
nouns.  The  vocaoulary  was  divided  into  two  parts, 
the  first,  containing  2099  words,  being  classified  as 
the  conscious  vocabulary  and  the  second,  comprising 
183  terms,  being  classified  as  the  sub-conscious  vo- 
cabulary. The  latter  classification  was  made  up  of 
words  which  the  child  had  been  known  to  use,  but 
which  had  either  been  forgotten  or  could  not  be  re- 
called because  of  lack  of  proper  environment.  Bran- 
denburg found  that  of  every  eight  nouns  learned  by 
the  child,  one  was  "pigeon-holed",  or  became  a  part 
of  the  sub-conscious  vocabulary,  while  of  the  verbs 
only  one  out  of  every  33  was  thus  stored  away.  In 
one  day  the  child  used  a  total  of  11,623  words,  859 
of  which  were  different.  Thus,  in  one  day  she  used 
37.6  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  words  at  her 
command.  Brandenburg  not  only  lists  the  actual 
vocabulary  of  the  child,  but  also  publishes  hor  en- 
tire conversation  for  one  day.  The  total  number  of 
sentences  used  during  the  day  amounted  to  1873, 
the  average  number  of  words  per  sentence  being  six 
and  a  fraction  (11)  .* 

Mildred  Langenbeck  reports  the  investigation  of 
an  "unusually  precocious  child"  who  at  the  age  of 
five  had  a  vocabulary  of  6837  words.  It  is  said 
that  when  the  child  was  three  and  a  half  years  old 
her  uncle  taught  her  Herbert  Spencer's  definition  of 
life,**  and  that  though  months  often  elapsed  be- 
tween her  intervals  of  saying  it  she  never  forgot  it. 

*The  above  study  by  Brandenburg  was  later  continued 
during  the  fourth  year  of  the  child's  life.  Cf.  pages  26  and 

27. 

**"Life  is  a  definite  combination  of  heterogeneous  changes, 
both  simultaneous  and  successive,  in  correspondence  with  the 
external  co-existences  and  sequences."  Herbert  Spencer. 


22  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

The  following  incident  is  reported  as  having  oc- 
curred when  the  child  was  aged  four :  once,  becoming 
very  angry  at  the  dust,  she  exclaimed,  "I  should  like 
to  kill  the  dust/'  When  asked  how  she  could  kill  it  she 
replied,  "Very  easily,  pour  a  little  water  on  it."  A 
series  of  tests  at  the  age  of  five  conducted  by  the 
Binet-Simon  method  gave  her  a  mentality  as  that  of 
eleven  years.  She  failed  on  questions  depending 
upon  teaching  and  experience,  but  excelled  in  those 
dealing  with  natural  observation.  She  coined  many 
words  as  occasion  for  their  use  arose.  Many  of  the 
child's  ancestors  were  distinguished  men  and  wom- 
en. On  both  sides  her  family  were  people  of  more 
than  average  capacity  and  cultivation.  When  six- 
teen months  old  the  child  had  a  vocabulary  of  229 
words.  Of  the  6837  words  in  her  vocabulary  at  five 
years,  56.8  per  cent  were  nouns  (38). 

The  above  reports  of  studies  in  child  vocabularies 
will  serve  to  illustrate  the  general  nature  and  scope 
of  such  investigations.  For  the  remainder  of  the 
studies  of  child  language  of  which  we  have  record  a 
brief  summary  of  the  results  obtained  will  be  suffi- 
cient. For  the  most  part,  these  results  will  be 
merely  tabulated.  A  few  of  the  studies,  however, 
will  bear  more  specific  mention. 

Viola  Olerich,  the  "famous  baby  scholar,"  at  two 
years  knew  2,500  nouns  according  to  actual  records, 
and  it  was  judged  that  she  knew  at  least  500  more 
(47).  Figuring  on  the  basis  that  nouns  amount  to 
60  per  cent  of  the  entire  vocabulary  of  the  child  the 
total  number  of  words  known  by  Viola  Olerich  at 
the  age  of  two  would  be  5,000. 

Gale  reports  a  boy  of  two  and  a  half  years  to  have 
used  in  one  day  a  total  of  9,290  words,  751  of  which 
were  different,  and  another  child  of  just  two  years 
who  used  a  total  of  10,507,  of  which  803  were  differ- 
ent (20).  Sanford  Bell  found  that  his  child  of  four 
years  and  nine  ;  months'  uttered  a  total  of  14,996 
words,  while  one  of  three  and  a  half  years  used  15,- 
230,  in  one  day  (7). 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  23 

Tracy  (58)  found  that  in  testing  the  vocabularies 
of  a  number  of  children,  the  total  number  of  words 
considered  being  5,400,  nouns  formed  60  per  cent  of 
the  entire  vocabulary.  Other  authors  agree  that 
the  number  of  nouns  in  a  child's  vocabulary  always 
exceeds  50  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  words. 

Kirkpatrick  makes  the  assertion  that  the  number 
of  words  used  by  a  two-year-old  child  varies  from  a 
few  to  a  thousand.  The  average  he  believes  to  be 
about  200  to  400(34).  In  close  agreement  to  this 
assertion  is  the  following  statement  by  Whipple: 
"In  the  twenty-odd  published  vocabularies,  we  find 
that  children  from  16  to  19  months  are  using  from 
60  to  232  words,  that  two-year-old  children  are  us- 
ing from  115  to  1227  words,  and  that  the  vocabulary 
increases  rapidly  from  that  time  on.  It  is  perfectly 
safe  to  assert  that  the  average  three-year-old  child 
makes  use  of  1,000  words.  This  holds  true  at  least 
for  the  child  who  has  an  ordinary  quantum  of 
curiosity  and  a  normal  tendency  toward  linguistic 
imitation  and  who  is  in  daily  contact  with  parents 
or  older  children  who  are  ready  to  name  situations 
for  him  as  fast  as  they  appear"  (56) . 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  study  of  child  vocabular- 
ies the  following  tabulation  has  been  prepared : 

TABLE  I. 

Child  Vocabularies. 


Authority. 

Age  of  Child. 

Vocabulary. 

Reference. 

Whipple 

7.5m. 

1 

60 

Hills 

8m. 

6 

26 

Tracy 

9  m. 

9 

58 

Whipple 

11.5m. 

4 

60 

Tracy 

ly. 

4 

58 

Tracy 

ly. 

8 

58 

Tracy 

ly. 

10 

58 

Whipple 

ly. 

15 

60 

Beyer 

ly. 

20 

8 

(Continued  on  next  page) 


24 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


(Table 

/,  continued) 

Jegi 

16m. 

75 

Langenbeck 

16m. 

229 

Tracy 

17m. 

35 

Beyer 

17m. 

160 

Hall 

17m. 

232 

Jegi 

18m. 

60 

Dewey 

18m. 

144 

Nice 

18m. 

145 

Dewey 

19m. 

115 

Tracy 

19m. 

144 

Tracy 

21m. 

177 

Tracy 

22m. 

28 

Tracy 

22m. 

69 

Tracy 

23m. 

136 

Tracy 

2y. 

36 

Gale 

2y. 

115 

Tracy 

2y. 

139 

Doran 

2y. 

161 

Holden 

2y. 

173 

Tracy 

2y. 

263 

Hills 

2y. 

321 

Preyer 

2y. 

397 

Holden 

2y. 

399 

Moore 

2y. 

475 

Holden 

2y. 

483 

Gale 

2y. 

578 

Gale 

2y. 

614 

Beyer 

2y. 

771 

Humphreys 

2y. 

1121 

Jegi 

2y. 

1227 

Olerich 

2y. 

5000* 

Tracy 

25m. 

250 

Tracy 

27m. 

171 

Tracy 

28m. 

677 

Tracy 

30m. 

327 

Salisbury 

32m. 

642 

30 
38 
58 

8 

25 
30 
17 
46 
17 
58 
58 
58 
58 
58 
58 
21 
58 
18 
28 
58 
26 
49 
28 
43 
28 
21 
21 

8 

29 
30 
47 
58 
58 
58 
58 
52 


(Continued  on  next  page) 


*  Estimated. 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  25 

(Table  /,  continued) 

Gale  3y.  1176  21 

Nice  3y.  1205  46 

Whipple  3y.  1771  60 

Brandenburg  3  y.  2282  11 

Mateer  4y.  1020  41 

Nice  4y.  1870  46 

Doran  5  y.  1400  18 

Langenbeck  5  y.  6837  38 

Table  I  presents  the  size  of  various  child  vocabu- 
laries, the  subjects  ranging  in  age  from  7.5  months 
to  5  years,  and  the  vocabularies  ranging  in  size  from 
one  word  to  6837.  Owing  to  the  difference  in  age  at 
which  speech  first  appears,  an  attempted  generaliza- 
tion in  regard  to  the  size  of  vocabulary  before  the 
age  of  two  is  not  justifiable.  Even  at  the  age  of  two 
there  is  necessarily  a  great  divergence  in  the  size  of 
the  vocabulary.  This  is  due  partly  to  the  fact  that 
different  children  begin  to  talk  at  different  ages;  it 
is  also  due  to  the  fact  that  children  are  not  endowed 
with  equivalent  intellects,  and  some  learn  much 
more  rapidly  than  others.  Obviously  this  state  of 
affairs  continues  throughout  life.  Therefore,  in 
any  group  of  considerable  size,  composed  of  persons 
of  the  same  age  selected  at  random,  regardless  of 
what  that  age  may  be,  we  can  not  expect  a  very  close 
agreement  in  the  sizes  of  their  vocabularies.  In 
actual  number  of  words  the  variation  at  the  age  of 
two  is  doubtless  smaller  than  at  any  subsequent  age ; 
for  variation  in  terms  of  percentage  of  the  entire 
vocabulary  the  reverse  is  probably  true. 

Omitting  as  very  unusual  the  five  thousand  word 
vocabulary  of  Viola  Olerich,  we  find  the  average  vo- 
cabulary of  the  remaining  sixteeen  two-year-old 
children  recorded  in  Table  I  to  consist  of  454.56 
words — approximately  450;  the  median  is  398,  and 
the  mean  variation  260.9.  The  range  is  from  36  to 
1227.  Unfortunately,  the  data  at  hand  for  the  re- 
maining ages  of  infancy  is  too  slight  to  warrant  the 


26  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

reliability  of  generalization.  Nevertheless,  in  the 
four  vocabularies  recorded  for  three-year-old  chil- 
dren there  is  a  certain  general  uniformity  of  size 
which  may  justify  the  taking  of  their  average.  The 
resultant  is  1608.5 — a  number  which  seems  very 
reasonable.  Taking  1600  as  the  vocabulary  at  three 
years  of  age  and  450  as  that  for  two  years,  the  in- 
crease in  one  year  is  256  per  cent;  in  other  words, 
the  vocabulary  at  three  years  should  be,  roughly 
speaking,  about  three  and  one-half  times  as  large  as 
at  two  years. 

Note :  Since  the  compilation  of  the  foregoing  table  and  sta- 
tistics several  magazine  articles  have  appeared  which  have  an 
important  bearing  on  the  subject.  Beyer,  who  furnished 
such  admirable  data  concerning  the  vocabulary  of  a  two- 
year-old  child,  has  continued  his  investigations  during  the 
third  year  and  presents  the  results  of  this  study  in  the  Edu- 
cational Review,  Dec.,  1916(9).  It  was  found  that  the  child, 
who  at  two  years  had  a  vocabulary  of  771  words,  acquired 
during  his  third  year  1297  verbal  symbols;  thirteen  of  the 
words  previously  known  had  gradually  been  dropped,  "the 
defunct  language  of  infantry."  This  left  a  remainder  of 
2055.  However,  this  estimate  excludes  about  200  "question- 
able words"  which  if  added  would  bring  the  total  to  2255. 
Using  the  more  conservative  estimate  of  2055  as  the  vocabu- 
lary at  three  years,  we  find  an  increase  of  166  %  over  the 
vocabulary  at  two  years;  if  we  take  the  larger  number,  2255, 
the  increase  is  193  %.  In  either  case  the  percentage  of  in- 
crease is  considerably  smaller  than  the  suggested  increase  of 
256  %.  However,  it  should  be  noted  that  Beyer's  child  at  two 
years  of  age  had  a  much  larger  vocabulary  than  the  average 
for  the  two-year-old  child  as  ascertained  from  the  table.  It 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  child  with  a  large  vocabulary 
would  show  as  great  a  yearly  increase  in  terms  of  percentage, 
though  in  actual  words  his  gain  would  probably  be  somewhat 
more  than  that  of  the  child  with  a  more  meagre  store  of  ver- 
bal symbols. 

In  an  article  in  the  Pedagogical  Seminary  for  March,  1916, 
George  C.  and  Julia  Brandenburg  give  the  results  of  a  con- 
tinuation in  the  vocabulary  study  of  their  daughter  during  the 
fourth  year  (12).  At  four  years  of  age  the  child  knew  3915 
words,  including  regular  variants  except  noun  plurals;  and 
3061  words  excluding  all  except  irregular  variants.  At  three 
years  of  age  the  child's  vocabulary,  including  variants,  to- 
taled 2282 ;  excluding  variants,  2008.  This  gives  an  increase 
during  the  fourth  year  of  71  %  in  the  former  case,  and  52  % 
in  the  latter. 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  27 

At  ,three  years  of  age  the  variants  constituted  12  %  of  the 
entire  vocabulary;  a  year  later  they  amounted  to  21.8  %.  A 
comparison  between  the  third  and  fourth  years  in  regard  to 
parts  of  speech  is  shown  in  the  following  table: 


Regular  variants  incPd 

Regular  variants  excl'd 

No.  of 

words 

Per 

cent 

No.  of  words 

Per 

cent 

Age 

3 

4 

3 

4 

3 

4 

3 

4 

Nouns 

1171 

1728 

51.3 

44. 

1 

1171 

1728 

58 

.0 

56 

.4 

Verbs 

732 

1510 

32.0 

38.6 

465 

716 

23 

.0 

23 

.4 

Adjectives 

198 

427 

8.7 

10. 

9 

191 

374 

9 

.8 

12 

.2 

Adverbs 

98 

150 

4.3 

3. 

8 

98 

144 

4 

.9 

4 

.7 

Pronouns 

36 

43 

1.6 

1. 

1 

36 

42 

1 

.8 

1 

.3 

Prepositions 

20 

24 

.8 

, 

6 

20 

24 

1 

.0 

.8 

Interjections 

15 

19 

.6 

5 

15 

19 

.8 

.6 

Conjunctions 

12 

14 

.5 

• 

4 

12 

14 

.6 

.4 

Total  2282  3915  2008  3061 

Brandenburg  claims  that  from  a  study  of  2000  school  chil- 
dren of  various  grades  he  has  ascertained  that  children  in  the 
public  schools  build  up  their  vocabularies  at  the  rate  of  ap- 
proximately 1400  words  per  year,  exclusive  of  variants.  It 
would  be  of  interest  to  know  the  increase  rate  inclusive  of 
variants ;  and  also  to  know  the  per  cent  of  increase  from  year 
to  year. 

Bateman,  in  the  June,  1916,  issue  of  the  Pedagogical  Semi- 
nary, discusses  the  language  of  three  children  at  the  same 
age (5).  All  three  children  were  girls,  two,  J.  and  A.,  being 
sisters  and  the  other,  D.,  a  cousin.  The  appearance  of  the 
first  word  in  the  three  cases  was  A.,  ten;  J.,  ten  and  one 
half;  and  D.,  eleven  months.  The  vocabularies  at  one  year 
comprised  D.,  8;  A.,  9;  and  J.,  10  words.  Bateman  cites 
eight  cases  of  one-year  vocabularies,  the  average  number  of 
words  being  9.  At  two  years  one  of  the  three  children  in 
consideration  had  a  vocabulary  of  497  words.  At  twenty- 
eight  months  the  vocabularies  excluding  proper  nouns  and  in- 
flections, were:  A.,  628;  J.,  405;  and  D.,  308.  Including  prop- 
er nouns  and  inflections,  the  vocabularies  for  the  two  sisters 
were:  A.,  779;  and  J.,  488.  Data  concerning  three  other 
vocabularies  at  28  months  is  given  showing  .totals  of  677 
(cited  in  Table  I  of  the  present  treatise),  451  and  345  words. 
The  average  for  the  six  vocabularies  at  28  months  is  469. 
Bateman  claims  the  average  number  of  words  at  two  years 
for  20  vocabularies  is  498;  at  three  years  for  9  vocabularies 
1,515.  Authorities  for  these  statistics  are  not  cited.  These 
averages  for  the  two-year  and  three-year  vocabularies  show 
a  remarkably  close  approximation  to  the  averages  obtained 
from  Table  I  of  the  present  discussion.  If  an  average  is  at- 
tempted from  the  two  groups  of  two-year  and  three-year 


28  VOCABULAR  Y  STUDIES 

averages  (the  group  cited  by  Bateman  and  the  group  present- 
ed in  Table  I ) ,  though  such  an  average  of  averages  would 
doubtless  by  no  means  be  exact  since  there  are  probably  rep- 
ititions  in  ,the  two  groups,  the  resultant  gives  a  vocabulary  of 
479  words  for  the  average  two-year-old  child,  and  a 
total  of  1544  words  for  the  three-year-old  child;  showing  an 
increase  of  222  %  from  the  second  to  the  third  year.  Is  it 
then  too  much  to  say  that  during  the  third  year  the  normal 
child  may  be  expected  to  show  a  gain  of  from  200  to  250 
per  cent  in  vocabulary? 

For  the  remainder  of  this  part  of  the  treatise 
which  deals  with  investigations  carried  on  by  others 
in  the  field  of  vocabulary  study,  owing  to  the  nature 
of  the  data  at  hand,  recourse  must  be  had  very 
largely  to  broad  generalizations.  A  few  specific  in- 
stances will  be  mentioned,  for  the  most  part  with- 
out comment,  and  such  generalizations  as  are  deem- 
ed advisable  will  be  presented. 

Dr.  Peter  Roberts  said  the  average  vocabulary  of 
a  child  of  six  or  seven  amounted  to  only  300  or  400 
words  (56).  Other  writers  have  made  somewhat 
similar  statements.  In  view  of  the  data  which  has 
been  presented  concerning  the  vocabularies  01  chil- 
dren during  infancy,  and  especially  the  conclusions 
reached  in  the  case  of  the  two  year  vocabularies, 
such  statements  as  that  of  Dr.  Roberts  may  be  dis- 
carded without  further  consideration. 

In  connection  with  the  study  of  children  who  are 
just  entering  school,  and  even  in  regard  to  those 
who  are  a  little  more  advanced  but  still  in  the  lower 
grades,  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  number  of  differ- 
ent words  used  by  some  of  the  textbooks.  The  av- 
erage primer  comprises  a  vocabulary  of  between  300 
and  400  words.  A  few  contain  approximately  one 
thousand,  but  these  are  exceptional.  Thus  the  six- 
year-old  child,  in  order  to  qualify  for  promotion, 
must  learn  to  recognize  in  print  300  or  400  words. 
This  number  obviously  does  not  comprise  his  entire 
vocabulary — perhaps  not  even  one  tenth  of  it.  For 
when  the  child  is  beginning  to  read  and  until  he  has 
mastered  the  system  of  alphabetical  and  syllabical 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  29 

combinations  to  form  words,  he  certainly  is  familiar 
with  a  comparatively  enormous  number  of  terms 
which  he  would  fail  to  recognize  in  print. 

Jean  Sherwood  Rankin  found  a  total  of  5,965  dif- 
ferent words,  including  909  proper  names,  in  a  pop- 
ular and  modern  textbook  in  United  States  history 
(51).  In  order  for  the  eighth-grader  to  study  intel- 
ligently this  particular  book  he  must  obviously  know 
the  great  majority  of  these  words.  It  should  be 
born  in  mind  that  textbooks  for  different  subjects 
all  have,  after  a  fashion,  their  own  special  vocabu- 
laries. Likewise  we  must  remember  that  a  consid- 
erable number  of  words  which,  even  in  their  printed 
form,  are  familiar  to  the  eighth-grader  do  not  ap- 
pear in  any  of  his  textbooks. 

To  quote  from  Katrina  Koch:  "Every  educator 
knows,  that  by  his  fourteenth  year  the  boy  has 
learned,  understood  and  remembered  lists  of  words, 
varying  from  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand.  And  of 
these,  most  teachers  realize,  to  their  chagrin,  that 
they  succeed  in  making  him  use  not  over  eight  hun- 
dred or  a  thousand"  (36). 

A  study  of  the  reading  vocabulary  of  three  chil- 
dren who  had  attended  school  one  and  a  half  years 
was  undertaken  by  Myrtle  Sholty.  She  took  all  the 
readers  which  the  children  had  read  since  entering 
school  and  used  the  words  of  these  readers  as  the 
basis  of  the  vocabulary  test.  All  the  words  which 
could  be  built  up  or  worked  out  by  sound  were  called 
phonetic  words.  Though  the  children  had  had  daily 
drills  in  phonetics  for  twelve  months,  each  one  knew 
a  greater  number  of  sight  than  phonetic  words, 
showing  that  they  still  depended  very  largely  upon 
the  memory.  Of  the  three  children,  one,  designated 
as  A,  was  supposed  to  be  the  best  reader,  B  medium, 
and  C  the  poorest.  Out  of  a  total  of  1,588  words 
known  in  context  were:  B,  1,438;  A,  1,392;  and  C, 
1,309.  Results  for  words  recognized  when  seen  on 
the  instant,  that  is  through  the  tachistoscope,  were : 


30  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

C,  1,009 ;  A,  977 ;  and  B,  798.  The  results  for  words 
worked  out  are  given  as :  B,  670 ;  A,  412 ;  and  C,  315. 
Thus  C  was  the  most  dependent  reader  because  she 
could  build  up  fewer  words,  and  B  was  the  most  in- 
dependent. C  is  said  to  have  improved  rapidly  and 
when  the  test  was  completed  was  the  fastest  reader 
of  the  three.  A,  who  was  supposed  to  be  the  best 
reader,  ranked  only  second  in  each  of  the  tests.  It 
is  interesting  to  compare  the  number  of  printed 
words  known  by  these  three  children,  who  had  at- 
tended school  one  and  a  half  years,  with  the  number 
of  words  which  are,  in  general,  found  in  a  primer. 
Progress  becomes  more  rapid  as  the  child  advances 
(53). 

Doran  reports  a  boy,  nine  years  old,  who  had  a 
vocabulary  of  6,031  words.  The  boy  was  bright  in 
many  respects,  but  had  not  been  to  school  very 
much.  He  was  in  the  third  grade.  Doran's  son, 
Edwin,  at  ten  years  of  age  could  define  at  least  10,- 

000  words,  and  when  he  was  thirteen  he  could  define 
18,000,  according  to  tests  carried  on  by  his  father. 
The  youth  had  read  a  great  deal,  and  had  had  con- 
siderable practice  in  vocabulary  work.     At  thirteen 
he  had  studied  one  year  of  Latin.  Doran  believes  that 
Latin  and  Greek  aid  greatly  in  the  enlargement  of 
the  English  vocabulary  (18). 

Doran  worked  mainly  with  students  in  schools 
and  colleges.  His  effort  was  to  ascertain  not  the 
number  of  words  that  had  actually  been  used  in 
oral  or  written  speech,  but  the  number  of  words  the 
persons  knew  or  could  use  intelligently.  In  every 
case  his  results  were  attained  by  oral  or  written 
definitions.  He  included  all  proper  names  and  vari- 
ants found  in  the  dictionaries  which  he  used,  saying, 
"As  there  seems  to  be  some  confusion  in  vocabulary 
tests  as  to  what  constitutes  a  word,  let  it  be  under- 
stood I  have  followed  the  dictionaries  in  this  respect. 

1  have  counted  what  they  have  counted,  and  I  have 
included  what  they  have  included."     Some  of  his 
earlier  investigations  were  based  upon  Webster's  In- 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  31 

ternational,  the  Academic,  or  the  High-School  edi- 
tions, while  his  later  studies  were  conducted  by  the 
use  of  the  Century  and  the  Standard  dictionaries. 
His  method  was  to  select  a  number  of  words,  usually 
1,000  or  more,  taking  all  the  words  of  each  page,  ex- 
cept such  unusual  words  as  no  one  would  be  likely 
to  know,  and  selecting  the  pages  either  at  random, 
or,  as  was  more  often  the  case,  taking  them  in  a  cer- 
tain definite  order,  as  every  twenty-fifth  or  every 
fiftieth  page  (18). 

By  class  tests  Doran  found  that  the  pupils  of  the 
sixth  grade  in  one  school  averaged  4,192  words 
while  in  another  they  averaged  11,634;  in  the  same 
two  schools  respectively  the  eighth-graders  aver- 
aged 7,937  and  17,138.  The  pupils  of  the  latter 
school  were  somewhat  older  than  those  of  the  for- 
mer. For  the  most  part,  Doran's  results  will  sim- 
ply be  tabulated  in  a  general  way  further  on  in  this 
treatise ;  and  a  few  solitary  tests  which  do  not  admit 
of  adequate  generalization  will  be  given  specific 
mention  (18). 

A  certain  Minnesota  superintendent  tested  the  vo- 
cabularies of  four  eighth-grade  pupils  by  having 
them  go  through  their  small  High-School  dictionar- 
ies, counting  word  by  word  all  that  they  felt  sure 
they  knew  and  might  have  used.  Three  of  the  four 
reported  that  they  knew  between  nine  and  ten  thou- 
sand words.  The  fourth  estimated  for  himself  near- 
ly fifteen  thousand.  Jean  Sherwood  Rankin,  in  of- 
fering this  report,  comments  thus :  "These  figures 
tally  well  with  the  reports  upon  vocabularies  pub- 
lished by  the  one  or  two  lone  explorers  in  the  field 
of  high-school  vocabularies,  and  lead  us  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  eighth-grade  student  who  completes 
his  work  successfully  must  possess  from  ten  to  fif- 
teen thousand  words"  (51). 

Professor  E.  A.  Kirkpatrick  conducted  a  series  of 
tests  among  children  of  the  grades,  as  well  as  among 
high  school  and  college  students.  His  method  is 


32  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

clearly  shown  by  the  following  quotation:  "When  a 
student  began,  say  on  page  2,  and  counted  all  the 
words  in  bold-faced  type  and  the  number  of  these 
known  on  every  fiftieth  page,  and  then  did  the  same 
beginning  with  page  20,  the  results  were  so  nearly 
the  same  as  to  convince  me  that  the  method  was  fair- 
ly accurate.  Some  preliminary  tests  were  then  made 
that  showed  that  a  hundred  words  taken  by  chance 
from  various  parts  of  the  dictionary  might  serve  as 
a  fairly  accurate  measure  of  the  size  of  one's  under- 
standing vocabulary The  author  now  considers 

that  the  best  list  of  words  is  obtained  from  Web- 
ster's Academic  Dictionary  (which  contains  about 
28,000  words  on  645  pages) ,  by  taking  the  first,  sec- 
ond, or  last  word,  or  any  other  definite  word  on  ev- 
ery sixth  page.  For  general  purposes  and  for  all 
ages  this  is  probably  better  than  to  take  a  hundred 
words  from  an  unabridged  dictionary  which  con- 
tains so  many  various  and  obselete  forms  of  the 
same  words,  along  with  rare  words,  and  technical 
terms  not  found  in  the  smaller  dictionary.  Esti- 
mates based  on  words  from  the  academic  dictionary 
give  less  than  half  as  many  words  in  the  vocabulary 
as  those  based  on  data  from  the  unabridged,  but 
they  are  more  representative  of  fundamentally  dif- 
ferent concepts. 

"The  method  of  using  the  test  was  to  place  the 
printed  list  before  the  subjects  and  ask  them  to 
mark  the  words  that  they  knew  with  a  plus  (+) 
sign,  those  that  they  did  not  with  a  minus  ( — )  sign, 
and  doubtful  ones  with  a  question  mark  ( ?) .  The 
tests,  which  numbered  about  two  thousand,  were 
made  chiefly  upon  pupils  from  the  fourth  grade  up 
through  the  high  school  and  university,  although  a 
few  were  made  upon  younger  children.  Control 
tests  showed  that  if  the  same  test  was  given  orally, 
there  was  some  difference  in  the  words  marked  as 
known  and  unknown.  This  difference  was  of  course 
very  great  in  the  second  and  third  grades,  where  a 
few  tests  were  made,  and  became  less  with  age,  yet 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  33 

it  usually  amounted  even  in  the  case  of  adults  to 
from  one  to  three  per  cent.  In  a  few  individuals 
the  difference  was  quite  marked"  (33). 

Kirkpatrick  found  the  individual  differences  in 
size  of  vocabulary  to  be  very  great,  some  ninth 
grade  children  falling  to  the  rank  of  second  grade 
children,  while  some  in  the  third  or  fourth  grades 
ranked  with  the  average  of  those  in  the  ninth  grade 
or  high  school.  In  general,  he  found  that  those  stu- 
dents who  had  read  extensively  ranked  higher  in 
size  of  vocabulary  than  those  who  had  read  little. 
He  announces  that  in  his  own  classes  wh'ere  students 
were  ranged  in  three  grades  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  words  which  they  knew  in  one  list,  other  lists 
of  words  similarly  selected  resulted  in  60  per  cent  to 
80  per  cent  of  them  being  again  in  the  same  grade. 
None  changed  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  of  the 
three  classifications  (33).  The  results  of  Kirkpat- 
rick's  research  will  be  tabulated  later. 

Another  form  of  vocabulary  test  was  that  con- 
ducted by  R.  W.  Brown.  Six  members  of  the  fresh- 
man course  in  English  at  Wabash  College  were  the 
subjects  for  this  investigation.  Each  student  car- 
ried small  cards  with  him  at  all  times  and  endoavor- 
ed  to  catch  all  the  words  he  used  in  ordinary  speech 
and  writing.  The  following  classes  of  words  were 
thrown  out:  all  which  were  merely  inflected  forms 
of  other  words  on  the  list;  numbers,  both  cardinal 
and  ordinal;  pronouns  and  demonstratives;  nouns 
used  only  as  proper  nouns;  extremely  technical 
terms;  all  except  one  word  from  each  group  of 
words  obviously  related  in  their  origin ;  all  negatives 
in  un  and  in  except  where  only  the  negative  form  of 
the  word  exists,  or  where  the  positive  is  rare;  and 
finally,  all  words  in  re  and  dis  where  the  meaning 
could  be  readily  gathered  from  the  definitions  of  the 
root  word  and  the  prefix.  In  spite  of  such  strenu- 
ous efforts  to  avoid  any  possible  over-estimation,  the 
total  number  of  words — we  might  almost  say  words 
entirely  without  relation  to  each  other — in  ordinary 


34  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

use  by  each  of  the  several  students  who  performed 
the  experiment  was  found  to  be:  2,970;  3,190; 
3,920 ;  4,510 ;  4,550 ;  and  4,560.  The  students  varied 
in  age  from  17  to  21  years.  Their  class  room  rec- 
ords ranged  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  The 
words  themselves  "represent  all  the  variety  of  in- 
terest which  one  would  expect  to  find  in  a  group  of 
young  men  who  are  beginning  their  college  course" 
(13).  Although  this  particular  experiment  is  of  lit- 
tle value  as  regards  the  total  number  of  words  in  a 
vocabulary,  nevertheless  it  is  of  interest  in  that  it 
gives  us  some  inkling  as  to  the  number  of  words  in 
ordinary  individual  usage — a  number  unexpectedly 
large,  especially  when  we  consider  the  enormous 
number  of  words  which  were  rejected  in  this  test. 

Another  interesting  test  was  that  carried  on  by 
Barnes  with  six  freshmen  and  four  upperclassmen 
at  De  Pauw  University.  Without  having  given 
them  any  previous  intimation  as  to  what  he  desired 
of  them,  Barnes  called  these  students  into  his  office 
and  told  them  to  write  down  all  the  words  they  could 
think  of  in  two  hours.  The  results  were:  Fresh- 
men, men,  1,114,  1,596,  1,789;  women,  847,  948, 
1,230.  Upperclassmen,  men,  1,239,  1,464;  women, 
1,489,  1,573.  At  the  end  of  the  two  hours  every  stu- 
dent was  still  writing  rapidly  and  insisted  that  he 
had  by  no  means  exhausted  his  supply.  Many  of  the 
commonest  words  of  every-day  life  had  been  omitted 
(4). 

E.  H.  Babbitt  employed  a  vocabulary  test,  a  little 
different  in  detail,  but  essentially  the  same  as  Pro- 
fessor Kirkpatrick's,  to  find  the  number  of  German 
words  which  could  be  defined  by  students  when  they 
entered  the  second  year's  work  in  the  subject  at  col- 
lege. Some  of  these  students  were  admitted  on  ex- 
amination. It  was  found  that  the  vocabulary  of 
those  who  could  pass  such  an  examination  was  nev- 
er less  than  2,000  words,  ranging  from  that  to  5,000. 
The  mark  received  on  the  entrance  examination  was 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  35 

in  close  relation  to  the  extent  of  the  vocabulary. 
The  test  was  repeated  at  the  end  of  the  year,  the  re- 
sults showing*  that  the  vocabularies  now  ranged 
from  5,000  to  12,000.  The  marks  on  the  final  ex- 
amination at  the  end  of  this  year's  course  were  also 
in  close  relation  to  the  extent  of  the  vocabulary. 
Babbitt  tried  this  plan  for  several  years,  and  always 
got  comparatively  uniform  results  ( 1 ) . 

Later,  Babbitt  extended  his  investigations  to  the 
English  language.  He  used  an  unabridged  diction- 
ary containing  over  100,000  words.  The  majority 
of  the  college  sophomores  upon  whom  he  tried  the 
experiment  reported  from  50,000  to  60,000  words. 
Babbitt  claims  that  students  who  had  not  studied 
Greek  regularly  reported  from  10,000  to  15,000 
words  less  than  those  who  had(l). 

Thus  we  see  that  different  investigators  have  car- 
ried on  the  study  of  vocabularies  in  various  ways 
with  varying  results.  For  the  sake  of  convenience 
the  following  tables  have  been  prepared,  showing 
generalizations  in  regard  to  the  size  of  vocabulary 
of  students  ranging  from  the  second  grade  to  the 
college : 

TABLE  II. 

Average  Vocabulary  of  Students  in  the  Grades. 

A. 

Investigations  by  Kirkpatrick(33). 
Grade  II  4480  Grade  VI          8,700 

Grade  III  6620  Grade  VII       10,660 

Grade  IV  7020  Grade  VIII     12,000 

Grade  V  7860  Grade  IX        13,400 

B. 

Investigations  by  Doran(18). 

Grade  VI          4,192  Grade  VI  11,634 

Grade  VII         5,849  Grade  VII  13,675 

Grade  VIII       7,937  Grade  VIII  17,138 

Grade  IX  18,865 


36  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

TABLE  III. 

Average  Vocabulary  for  High  School  Students. 
Investigations  by  Kirkpatrick(33). 

First  year       15,640  Third  year     17,600 

Second  year    16,020  Fourth  year  18,720 


TABLE  IV. 

Average  Vocabulary  of  Students 
in  the  Normal  School. 

A. 

Investigations  by  Kirkpatrick(33). 
Average  for  all  years,  Normal  School  19,000 

B. 

Investigations  by  Dor  an  (18). 

First  year        11,700  Fourth  year    19,400 

Second  year  15,400  Fifth  year       21,500 

Third  year      15,750 


TABLE  V. 

Average  Vocabulary  of  College  Students. 

A. 

Investigations  by  Kirkpatrick(33). 
Average  for  four  years,  College  20,120 

B. 

Investigations  by  Whipple  (59) . 
Average  for  four  years,  College  20,512 

C. 

Investigations  by  Babbitt  ( 1 ) . 
Sophomore  Class,  approximately  50,000  to  60,000 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  37 

TABLE  VI. 

Average  Vocabulary  in  Relation  to  Scholastic  Status 

Investigations  by  Kirkpatrick(33). 

Scholastic  Status  Vocabulary 

Grade  II  4,480 

Grade  III  6,620 

Grade  IV  7,020 

Grade  V  7,860 

Grade  VI  8,700 

Grade  VII                        •  10,660 

Grade  VIII  12,000 

Grade  IX  13,400 

High  School,  1st  year  15,640 

High  School,  2nd  year  16,020 

High  School,  3rd  year  17,600 

High  School,  4th  year  18,720 

Normal  School,  all  years  19,000 

College,  all  years  20,120 

By  reference  to  Table  II  it  will  be  seen  that  Kirk- 
patrick's  results  for  the  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth 
grades  lie  about  midway  between  the  two  sets  re- 
ported by  Doran.  The  investigations  by  Doran  of 
the  students  in  the  grades  were  conducted  in  two 
different  schools,  the  first  at  Edmond,  Oklahoma, 
and  the  second  in  a  village  school  in  Arkansas.  It 
seems  remarkable  that  such  divergent  results  should 
have  been  obtained.  Since  the  results  obtained  by 
Doran  show,  in  general,  a  fairly  close  agreement  to 
those  reported  by  Kirkpatrick,  and  since  the  data  at 
hand  concerning  the  investigations  of  the  latter  is 
more  complete,  Table  VI  has  been  prepared,  show- 
ing the  average  vocabulary  in  relation  to  scholastic 
status  as  ascertained  by  Kirkpatrick.  This  Table 
will  again  be  referred  to  after  the  results  of  the  ex- 
periments conducted  at  Colorado  College  have  been 
presented. 

It  is  well  to  note  that  Babbitt,  whose  results  show 
the  size  of  the  college  student's  vocabulary  to  be 
about  three  times  as  great  as  is  reported  by  Kirk- 


38  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

Patrick  and  Whipple,  used  a  dictionary  containing 
over  100,000  words,  whereas  the  investigations  of 
the  other  two  were  conducted  by  means  of  much 
smaller  dictionaries.  Further  comment  upon  this 
matter  will  be  made  in  Part  IV. 

Note:  Since  the  compilation  of  the  above  statistics  and 
tables  there  has  appeared,  in  School  and  Society,  Nov.  13, 
1915,  an  article  concerning  vocabulary  tests  as  measures  of 
school  efficiency  (10).  The  Kirkpatrick  list  of  one  hundred 
words  was  used  in  testing  the  children  of  the  upper  five 
grades  of  Speyer  School,  the  demonstration  school  of  Teach- 
ers College,  Columbia  University.  A  second  test  was  con- 
ducted with  a  similar  list  obtained  from  Webster's  Elemen- 
tary School  Dictionary,  which  "includes  over  44,000  entries, 
not  including  several  thousand  inflected  forms."  The  Kirk- 
patrick list  was  selected  from  Webster's  Academic  Dictionary, 
which  contains  28,000  words.  The  following  table  shows  the 
results  of  these  two  series  of  tests : 

Kirkpatrick  List.  El.  Diet.  List. 

Kirkpatrick  Speyer  Speyer 

Grade                Group  Group  Group 

4  7,020  10,886 

5  7,860  13,216  21,648 

6  8,700  17,038  30,184 

7  10,660          17,052          27,720 

8  12,000          18,704          32,120 

It  was  found  in  testing  children  in  several  neighboring 
schools  that  those  of  the  Speyer  School  had  a  vocabulary 
from  10  to  25  per  cent  greater  than  those  of  the  same  grade 
in  other  schools.  The  difference  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  the  curriculum  of  ,the  Speyer  School  is  more  intimately 
and  vitally  associated  with  every-day  life  and  calls  for  more 
initiative  on  the  part  of  the  student  than  is  the  case  in  the 
usual  elementary  school  curriculum. 

Babbitt  experimented  with  a  number  of  people 
who  had  never  been  to  college,  but,  with  a  common 
school  education,  were  regular  readers  of  books  and 
periodicals.  These  people  generally  reported  the 
size  of  their  vocabulary  to  be  from  25,000  to  35,000 
words.  Some  went  much  higher,  even  as  high  as 
the  lower  figures  for  the  college  students  which 
were  tested  by  Babbit  ( 1 ) . 

Doran  made  a  few  individual  tests  among  college 
students  and  others.  These  tests  were,  for  the  most 


* 
GENERAL  DISCUSSION  39 

part,  based  upon  the  Century  and  the  Standard  dic- 
tionaries. Some  of  his  reports  are  interestnig  to 
compare  with  the  results  of  the  other  investigators. 

He  reports  a  girl  in  the  second  year  academy 
who  knew  £3,100  words;  another  girl  in  the  third 
year  academy  who  knew  26,600 ;  a  man  in  the  fourth 
year  academy  reports  41,895 ;  while  two  men  in  col- 
lege report  40,681  and  53,130  respectively  (18). 

Three  boys,  aged  about  thirteen  years,  had  vocab- 
ularies of  22,722 ;  26,376 ;  and  28,480  words  each.  A 
young  lady  19  years  old  who  had  not  quite  finished 
the  literary  course  in  a  young  lady's  seminary,  ap- 
parently knew  20,537  words  when  tested  by  a  com- 
paratively small  dictionary.  With  a  large  dictionary 
the  result  would  doubtless  have  been  much  higher 
(18). 

Doran,  by  a  very  extensive  test,  found  that  a  cer- 
tain young  lady  could  define  92,161  words.  He  him- 
self, almost  twenty  years  ago,  knew  84,000.  A  few 
years  later,  however,  he  estimated  his  vocabulary  at 
100,000  words.  He  knew  thousands  of  words  not  in 
the  dictionary,  for  instance  technical  and  vernacular 
names  in  Zoology,  Botany,  and  other  sciences  (18). 

The  experience  of  J.  M.  Greenwood  is  rather 
unique.  He  reports  the  following  incident  to  have 
occurred  during  the  first  term  he  taught:  "I  had 
bought  a  second-hand  copy  of  Webster's  Academic 
Dictionary  ....  I  took  up  Webster's  Old  Blue  Book, 
and  I  marked  down  all  the  words  between  its  two 
covers  of  whose  meanings  I  had  any  doubts.  There 
were  sixty-eight  of  these  words,  and  I  hunted  up 
their  meanings  in  this  dictionary,  I  had  never 
looked  into  a  dictionary  of  any  kind  a  dozen  times  in 
my  life  before,  and  yet  I  was  'shakey'  on  only  sixty- 
eight  out  of  about  10,000  different  words  in  that 
book"  (18). 

Edwin  S.  DuPoncot,  having  a  knowledge  of  more 
than  twenty  languages,  estimates  his  total  vocabu- 
lary for  the  entire  number  to  comprise  302,000 


40  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

words  (18).     Babbitt  estimates  the  total  number  of 
words  which  he  knew  in  nine  languages,  including 
English,  to  be  285,000(1).     Table  VII  analyses  the 
vocabularies  of  these  two  men. 

TABLE  VII. 

Vocabularies  of  the  Same  Individual 
in  Several  Languages. 

A. 

Total  Vocabulary  of  Edwin  S.  DuPoncot(18). 
English  70,000  Old  High  Ger.     5,000 

French  50,000  Norwegian  3,000 

German  45,000  Swedish  3,000 

Spanish  35,000  Danish  3,000 

Italian  25,000  Sanskrit  2,000 

Latin  20,000  Anglo-Saxon         2,000 

Portuguese          15,000  Hebrew  1,000 

Old  French         10,000  All  others  3,000 

Greek  10,000 

Total  302,000 

B. 

Total  Vocabulary  of  E.  H.  Babbitt  (1). 

English                65,000              Latin  18,000 

German               58,000              Spanish  16,000 

Danish                 52,000              Greek  13,000 

French                30,000             Old  Norse  11,000 
Italian                 22,000 

Total  285,000 

The  data  at  hand  concerning  the  relation  between 
the  size  of  vocabulary  and  the  class  record  of  stu- 
dents is  of  too  meagre  and  unreliable  a  nature  for 
tabulation.  Doran,  as  the  result  of  his  own  obser- 
vations, concluded  that  those  who  ranked  high  in 
their  classes  had  a  good  vocabulary ;  and  that  those 
who  had  a  good  vocabulary  ranked  high  in  their 
classes.  He  comments  thus:  "It  matters  little 
whether  we  say  students  do  well  because  they  have 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  41 

good  vocabularies,  or  they  have  good  vocabularies 
because  they  do  well ;  it  matters  little  which  is  cause 
or  which  effect — it  follows  that  if  you  increase  a  stu- 
dent's vocabulary  you  increase  his  standing  in  his 
class.  The  one  who  has  a  vague,  ill-defined  know- 
ledge of  words,  has  vague  and  ill-defined  thoughts, 
and  is  incapable  of  definite,  systematic,  and  logical 
thinking.  If  a  word  is  a  sign  of  an  idea,  bungling, 
meaningless  expressions  indicate  a  clouded,  vacant 
brain"  (18). 

Kirkpatrick  found  in  general  a  tendency  toward 
positive  correlation  between  the  size  of  vocabulary 
and  class  standing.  In  the  case  of  individuals  how- 
ever, there  was  often  a  wide  divergence  between  the 
class  room  marks  and  the  vocabulary-index.  In  the 
grades  there  was  no  clear  proof  of  the  relationship. 
In  one  instance  a  number  of  freshmen  were  tested 
and  the  vocabulary  index  compared  to  the  class- 
room marks.  The  average  number  of  words  known 
to  the  men  who  in  general  ranked  above  the  average 
of  their  class  in  the  various  subjects  was  5  per  cent 
greater  than  for  those  ranking  below  the  average. 
The  women  who  ranked  highest  in  English  averaged 
nearly  4  per  cent  better  in  size  of  vocabulary  than 
those  who  ranked  lowest  in  English  (33). 

Whipple  discovered  a  positive  correlation  between 
the  vocabulary-index  of  a  number  of  college  stu- 
dents and  their  grades  in  his  classes  in  educational 
psychology.  He  found  that  in  general  those  stu- 
dents who  had  read  the  most  books  and  magazines 
had  the  largest  vocabularies  (59). 

It  has  been  suggested  by  a  number  of  men  that  a 
vocabulary  test  might  be  employed  as  an  examina- 
tion for  college  entrance.  For  example,  Kirkpat- 
rick says :  "The  question  naturally  arises  whether 
size  of  vocabulary  and  ability  to  define  and  use 
words  is  not  a  sufficiently  accurate  measure  of  the 
intellectual  ability  of  youths  to  justify  the  use  of 
vocabulary  tests  in  examinations  for  entrance  to 


42  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

college.  College  work  is  supposed  to  be  general  in 
its  character,  demanding  general  ability,  of  which 
the  vocabulary  test  Ought  to  give  an  indication.  Of 
course  if  students  should  devote  their  time  to  a 
special  study  of  the  dictionary,  the  test  would  be- 
come special  and  valueless,  since  size  of  vocabulary 
would  not  then  be  an  accompaniment  and  indication 
of  experiences  and  intellectual  advances,  but  of 
special  study  of  modes  of  defining  words  in  terms  of 
other  word  symbols"  (33). 

As  to  sex  influences  upon  the  size  of  vocabulary 
we  again  find  little  except  of  a  very  general  nature. 
Kirkpatrick  is  of  the.  opinion  that  there  is  no 
constant  difference  between  the  sexes  (33).  Whip- 
pie  did  not  feel  that  a  positive  sex  difference  had 
been  established,  though  there  was  a  suggestion  of 
superiority  of  boys  over  girls,  and  of  men  over  wom- 
en (59).  Doran  thought  it  very  probable  that  up  to 
the  fourth  or  fifth  year  girls  knew  or  used  more 
words  than  boys  did.  Among  students  he  claims 
that  in  northern  schools  boys  in  the  same  classes 
and  of  the  same  age  knew  more  words  than  did  the 
girls,  while  in  southern  schools  the  reverse  was 
true.  He  supposes  this  geographical  influence  to 
arise  from  the  fact  that  the  northern  boy  is  more 
bold,  aggressive  and  interrogatory  than  the  nor- 
thern girl  or  the  southern  boy ;  the  southern  girl  is 
supposedly  bolder  and  more  aggressive  than  her  sis- 
ters of  the  north  and  her  brothers  of  the  south.  Ac- 
cording to  Doran,  man  should,  in  general,  have  the 
larger  vocabulary  because  of  his  aggressive  and  in- 
quisitive disposition  ( 18) . 

Several  authors  agree  that  in  infancy  up  to  the 
fourth  or  fifth  year  the  girl  knows  the  most  words. 
The  boy  learns  to  talk  at  a  later-  age  than  the  girl. 
For  several  years  he  is  behind  her  in  size  of  vocabu- 
lary, but  at  the  age  of  five  or  six  he  takes  the  lead 
and  retains  it  throughout  the  remainder  of  life. 
Thus,  after  the  age  of  infancy  the  boy  knows  more 


GENERAL  DISCUSSION  43 

words  than  the  girl,  the  man  has  command  of  a  lar- 
ger vocabulary  than  the  woman  (18). 

The  field  of  vocabulary  study  is  a  fertile  one.  The 
investigators  in  this  line  of  work  have  been  compar- 
atively few.  Their  methods  of  conducting  the  re- 
search have  been  various.  The  results  and  conclu- 
sions are  more  or  less  inconsistent.  Yet,  when  we 
group  their  results  as  a  whole,  we  find  that  a  great 
deal  has  been  accomplished  by  these  pioneers  in  the 
study  of  vocabularies. 


PART  III. 
FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST. 

The  question  has  arisen  as  to  the  practicability  of 
substituting  a  vocabulary  test  for  examinations  for 
college  entrance,  promotion,  etc.  Since  a  word  is  a 
sign  of  an  idea,  surely  the  more  words  one  knows, 
the  more  ideas  he  possesses.  The  larger  his  vocabu- 
lary, the  greater  we  would  expect  to  find  the  scope  of 
his  general  knowledge.  If  words  indicate  ideas  and 
ideas  indicate  intelligence,  why  should  we  not  simply 
employ  a  vocabulary  test  when  the  intellectual  abili- 
ty or  status  of  an  individual  is  to  be  ascertained? 
In  the  case  of  grading,  or  rating,  students  in  the 
schools  and  colleges,  could  a  vocabulary  test  be  sub- 
stituted, either  wholly  or  partially,  for  the  methods 
now.  in  vogue  ?  Is  a  vocabulary  test  a  satisfactory 
substitute  for  examinations  in  determining  the  qual- 
ifications of  an  individual,  either  for  admittance  to 
a  school  or  college  or  for  advancement  within  or 
graduation  from  the  school  or  college?  Is  there  a 
correlation  between  grades  or  rank  and  the  size  of 
vocabulary?  A  satisfactory  answer  to -these  ques- 
tions can  be  found  only  by  the  method  of  experimen- 
tation. 

The  fundamental  purpose  of  the  vocabulary  tests 
which  were  conducted  at  Colorado  College  was  to  as- 
certain what  relation,  if  any,  the  size  of  an  individu- 
al's vocabulary  bore  to  that  individual's  college  rank 
and  grades.  A  secondary  purpose  was  to  discover 
whether  or  not  sex  influences  play  an  important  part 
in  the  size  of  vocabularies.  The  attempt  to  deter- 


FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST  45 

/ 

mine  the  actual  size  of  individual  vocabularies  was 
given  less  consideration,  for  reasons  which  will  pres- 
ently appear. 

We  have  seen  that  different  investigators  have 
used  different  methods  for  the  determination  of  size 
of  vocabulary.  For  testing  the  vocabulary  of  infants 
the  actual  words  used  by  the  infant  during  a  certain 
period  of  time  may  be  recorded.  For  determining 
the  size  of  an  adult's  vocabulary  the  individual  to  be 
tested  may  be  asked  to  define  each  word  in  the  dic- 
tionary with  which  he  is  familiar.  Or  he  may  be 
asked  to  define,  or  perhaps  simply  indicate,  each 
word  of  a  representative  group  of  which  he  knows 
the  meaning,  the  total  vocabulary  being  estimated 
from  the  smaller  group.  Other  methods  for  ascer- 
taining the  size  of  vocabularies  have  been  employed, 
but  these  here  mentioned,  the  one  for  testing  infants 
and  the  other  two  for  experimentation  with  adults, 
are  probably  the  most  noteworthy. 

For  the  experiments  conducted  at  Colorado  Col- 
lege a  new  form  of  vocabulary  test  was  devised.  The 
plan  was  to  select  one  thousand  representative 
words  and  have  each  followed  by  four  definitions, 
of  which  one  was  correct  and  the  other  three  wrong. 
The  position  of  the  correct  definition  among  the  four 
was  determined  purely  by  chance,  the  order  being 
based  upon  the  results  of  a  number  of  casts  of  dice. 
The  subject  was  requested  to  check  the  correct  defi- 
nition of  every  word  with  which  he  was  familiar. 

The  one  thousand  words  were  selected  from  the 
Funk  &  Wagnalls  New  Standard  Dictionary,  in 
which  the  space  devoted  to  the  vocabulary  comprises 
2757  pages ;  the  method  was  to  take  the  first  word  of 
the  third  column  of  every  third  page  and  of  every 
thirtieth  page.  The  object  being,  obviously,  simply 
to  obtain  representatively  distributed  words.  After 
the  words  were  selected  it  was  found  that  a  large 
number  of  them  were  so  unusual  as  to  be,  for  the 
most  part,  unfamiliar  to  the  average  person.  For 


46  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

this  reason  the  system  of  using  four  definitions, 
correct  and  three  wrong,  for  each  word,  as  explained 
above,  was  applied  to  only  six  hundred  of  the  words 
on  the  entire  list;  of  the  remaining  four  hundred, 
consisting  of  such  terms  as  were  considered  unfa- 
miliar to  the  average  person,  the  subject  was  asked 
to  define  those  words  which  he  knew.  This  division 
of  the  entire  list  of  one  thousand  words  into  two 
parts  was  done  as  a  matter  of  convenience,  both  to 
the  experimenter  and  to  the  subject,  and  for  the 
sake  of  economy.  The  reason  for  employing  a  sys- 
tem whereby  the  subject  checks  the  correct  defini- 
tion rather  than  a  system  in  which  the  subject  must 
actually  furnish  the  definition  himself  is  twofold: 
in  the  first  place,  definitions,  whether  written  or 
oral,  as  given  by  students  or  others  who  are  not 
specialists  in  philology  are  often  of  a  very  vague  and 
hazy  nature — so  vague  and  hazy  in  fact  that  it  is  at 
times  impossible  to  determine  whether  the  subject 
really  knows  the  word  or  not ;  in  the  second  place,  a 
person  may  be  familiar  with  a  word  but  because  of 
lack  of  proper  associations  he  may  be  unable  to  de- 
fine it  in  terms  of  other  word  symbols.  It  was  for 
the  purpose  of  minimizing  these  difficulties  that  the 
system  of  four  definitions  was  used.  It  is  quite  ob- 
vious that  the  difficulties  above  referred  to  would 
still  be  encountered  in  the  list  of  four  hundred  words 
—those  for  which  no  definitions  were  furnished; 
however,  these  words  were  for  the  most  part  so  un- 
usual to  the  average  person  that  the  final  results 
were  vitiated  very  little  by  the  fact  that  for  this  part 
of  the  list  definitions  were  not  furnished. 

In  preparing  the  list  of  words,  biographical  and 
geographical  terms  were  omitted.  Excluding  these, 
the  total  number  of  words  remaining  in  the  diction- 
ary used  amounts  to  approximately  375,000.  This 
number  includes  derivatives,  compounds,  homo- 
nyms, variants,  obseletes,  colloquialisms,  etc.  Owing 
to  the  manner  of  selecting  the  words  used  in  the 
vocabulary  test,  and  because  of  the  dictionary  ar- 


FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST  47 

rangement  of  main  words  and  relatives  or  sub- 
words,  the  list  of  one  thousand  words  is  not  a  fail- 
sample  of  the  entire  375,000.  However,  it  is  safe 
to  say  that,  at  the  lowest  possible  calculation,  the 
list  of  words  as  used  in  the  test  is  representative  of 
not  less  than  250,000  vocabulary  terms. 

In  recording  the  results  the  number  of  words  hav- 
ing the  correct  definition  checked  was  noted ;  from 
this,  one  third  of  the  number  of  words  wrongly 
checked  was  deducted,  the  theory  being  that  accord- 
ing to  the  laws  of  probability  the  subject  could,  by 
pure  chance,  guess  the  correct  definition  for  unfami- 
liar words  once  out  of  every  four  times ;  so  that  for 
every  three  which  he  had  guessed  wrongly  the 
chances  were  in  favor  of  his  having  guessed  one  cor- 
rectly. To  the  number  of  words  thus  determined  as 
known  on  the  list  of  six  hundred  was  added  the 
number  of  words  correctly  defined  on  the  list  of  four 
hundred.  The  result,  that  is,  the  total  number  of 
words  considered  as  known  on  both  lists,  was  called 
the  vocabulary  index.  The  vocabulary  index  mul- 
tiplied by  the  number  of  words  of  which  each  word 
of  the  test  is  representative  gives  the  total  vocabu- 
lary. Thus,  if  we  consider  this  test  as  representa- 
tive of  250,000  words,  in  order  to  calculate  the  size 
of  the  total  vocabulary  the  index  must  be  multiplied 
by  250.  Owing  to  the  method  of  selecting  the 
words,  as  explained  above,  the  best  we  can  hope  for 
in  the  present  test  as  regards  the  size  of  the  entire 
vocabulary  is  a  very  rough  approximation.  But  in 
using  these  figures  the  results  can  scarcely  be  too 
high.  The  minimum  is  used  because  of  the  fact  that 
even  the  results  as  thus  obtained  in  regard  to  the 
size  of  individual  vocabularies  are  greatly  in  excess 
of  those  obtained  by  other  investigators. 

Whatever  may  be  the  faults  and  inadequacies  of 
the  system  of  vocabulary  test  that  has  just  been  de- 
scribed, the  test  is  at  least  relative.  It  was  not  de- 
signed primarily  as  a  means  of  determining  the 


48  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

size  of  an  individual's  total  vocabulary,  but  rather 
for  the  investigation  of  such  relationship  as  it  was 
felt  might  exist  between  the  size  of  vocabulary  and 
grades  or  sex.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  writer  that 
for  this  purpose  the  test  is  wholly  adequate  and 
practicable.  A  sample  of  the  test  sheets  as  actually 
used  will  be  found  in  the  appendix  and  may  be  re- 
ferred to  at  any  time. 

In  conducting  the  vocabulary  experiments  at  Colo- 
rado College  the  subjects  were  obtained  chiefly  from 
classes  in  Psychology,  Education,  and  English.  In 
this  way,  strictly  representative  groups  were  se- 
cured, especially  since  the  courses  in  Psycology  and 
in  English  were  required  respectively  of  all  Juniors 
and  Freshmen.  For  tabulation  the  subjects  were 
grouped  according  to  college  classification.  The  ex- 
periment was  extended  to  include  a  number  of  high 
school  seniors  and  freshmen.  A  few  individuals 
other  than  college  or  high  school  students  were  also 
tested.  Subjects  were  requested  not  to  check  words 
of  which  they  were  reasonably  doubtful.  They 
were  warned  that  a  certain  deduction  would  be  made 
for  all  wrongly  marked.  And  yet,  though  many  of 
the  subjects  thought  the  deduction  would  consist  of 
as  many  words  as  they  had  wrongly  checked,  the  av- 
erage number  of  words  incorrectly  marked  on  each 
list  of  six  hundred  was  almost  fifty.  This  shows 
how  predominant  is  the  characteristic  of  tending  to 
overestimate  one's  mental  capacity. 

The  results  of  these  experiments  are  to  be  found 
in  Tables  VIII  to  XXIV  inclusive.  The  results  are 
tabulated  in  regard  to  the  size  of  the  vocabulary  in- 
dex, being  arranged  in  regularly  descending  order. 
Tables  VIII  to  XIII  inclusive  show  the  words  by 
classes  without  regard  to  sex.  Tables  XIV  to  XIX 
inclusive  illustrate  the  sex  influences.  Tables  XX 
and  XXI  show  the  results  obtained  from  the  experi- 
ments carried  on  with  a  few  individuals  not  regis- 
tered in  college  or  high  school.  Table  XXII  pre- 


FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST  49 

sents  the  relation  between  vocabulary  and  major 
subject.  Table  XXIII  offers  generalizations  in  ref- 
erence to  sex  differences,  and  Table  XXIV  pre- 
sents calculations  in  regard  to  the  total  size  of  vocab- 
ularies. 

In  the  tables  the  index  number  (Ind.  No.)  refers 
to  the  particular  person,  or  "subject",  under  con- 
sideration. In  other  words,  the  index  number  is 
merely  a  substitute  for  the  subject's  name.  The  vo- 
cabulary index  (V.I.)  shows  the  number  of  words 
known  in  the  total  list  of  one  thousand  (after  all 
corrections  and  deductions  had  been  made).  The 
average  grade  (Av.  G.)  has  reference  to  the  aver- 
age grade  or  mark  received  by  the  individual  for  all 
his  college  or  high  school  classes.  The  age  is  given 
in  years  and  is  only  approximate.  Sex  is  indicated 
by  M.  for  male  and  F.  for  female. 

TABLE  VIII. 
College  Seniors. 

Ind.  No.  V.  I.  Av.  G.  Age.  Sex 

4D2  492                  93  22  M. 

4H2  449  82  23  F. 

4W1  417                 89  24  M. 

452  408  86  27  F. 
4D1  405  83  26  M. 
4S1  396  91  23  F. 
4K1  389  81  22  F. 

453  374  89  21  F. 
4H3  358  79  21  M. 
4M1  354  75  25  F. 
4H1  339  73  24  F. 
4R1  339  71  22  F. 
4G1  329  85  23  F. 
4A1  301  80  23  M. 
4B1  295  82  28  F. 


Total  5645  1239  354 

(Continued  on  next  page) 


50  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

(Table  VIII,  continued) 

Average       376.3  82.6  23.6 

Median         374  82  23 

M.  V.  42.89  4.97  1.65 


TABLE  IX. 

College  Juniors. 

Ind.  No.          V.  I.  Av.  G.  Age.  Sex 

3J2  467  91  27  F 

352  445  92  21  F. 
3S1  442  89  22  M. 
3N1  442  78  21  M. 
3H8  437  78  24  M. 
3H2  436  86  22  M. 
3S8  435  88  20  F. 
3M1  427  78  21  M. 
3W1  424  74  20  F. 
3G3  407  80  23  F. 
3E2  404  82  22  F. 
3H6  403  72  21  F. 
3B6  402  69  22  F. 

353  391  77  22  M. 
3C2  381  78  23  M. 
3S6  379  88  21  F. 
3R3  376  82  21  M. 

354  369  76  21  F. 
3T2  367  75  21  M. 
3E1  365  75  21  M. 
3B9  365    ,  68  22  F. 
3F1  358  78  23  F. 
3Y1  358  77  23  F. 
3H7  357  83  22  F. 
3B5  356          •       75  21  M. 
3F2  355  78  20  F. 
3H1  355  76  20  F. 

(Continued  on  next  page) 


FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST 


51 


3E3 

354 

3B7 

345 

3D1 

345 

3T1 

342 

3L1 

337 

3V1 

333 

3B3 

327 

3B2 

327 

3J1 

324 

3H5 

318 

3B4 

314 

3G2 

314 

3P2 

311 

3L2 

299 

3P1 

291 

3S5 

279 

3C1 

279 

3B1 

274 

3R2 

269 

3B8 

264 

3R1     , 

264 

3S7 

222 

3G1 

221 

3H4 

216 

3H3 

208 

Total 

18080 

Average 

347.7 

Median 

355 

•    M.  V. 

48.9 

(Table  IX,  continued) 

85  21  F. 

86  22  M. 
78  22  F. 
73  22  M. 
85  21  F. 
80  22  F. 

85  26  F. 

71  24  M. 

76  22  F. 
82  20  F. 
70  23  M. 

86  22  M. 
80  20  F. 

i  88  22  F. 

91  21  F. 

78  22  F. 

67  25  M. 

72  21  F. 
69  22  M. 

77  20  F. 
75  28  F. 

87  24  F. 
69  21  F. 
84  25  M. 
75  24  F. 

4112  1149 

79.1  22.1 

78  22 

3.48  1.2 


52 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


TABLE  X. 

College  Sophomores. 


Ind.  No. 

2J2 

2W6 

2H2 

2N1 

2S4 

2T2 

2F1 

2P1 

2T1 

2W2 

2B3 

2K1 

2G3 

2W3 

2B6 

2C6 

2B5 

2M2 

2G2 

2W1 

2W4 

2D2 

2W5 

2J1 

2S1 

2T3 

2C5 

2C1 

2S2 

2M1 

2S3 

2A1 

2C4 

2C3 

2B4 


V.I. 
434 
418 
414 
409 
403 
401 
398 
395 
388 
383 
380 
375 
371 
367 
362 
355 
354 
354 
351 
350 
345 
341 
340 
338 
331 
330 
328 
327 
324 
322 
321 
320 
314 
312 
311 


Av.  G. 
77 
76 
80 
77 
77 
79 
92 
87 
90 
81 
87 
72 
94 
78 
86 
80 
71 
70 
72 
65 
67 
76 
75 
68 
82 
93 
80 
93 
66 
87 
85 
88 
86 
73 
66 


Age. 

Sex 

20 

M. 

23 

M. 

20 

F. 

23 

M. 

22 

M. 

22 

F. 

21 

M. 

24 

F. 

26 

F. 

21 

M. 

19 

F. 

23 

M. 

20 

F. 

25 

M. 

19 

M. 

21 

F. 

21 

M. 

24 

M. 

20 

F. 

22 

F. 

21 

M. 

19 

F. 

21 

F. 

23 

M. 

20 

F. 

21 

M.. 

22 

F. 

18 

F. 

23 

M. 

23 

F. 

21 

F. 

20 

F. 

20 

F. 

18 

F. 

23 

M. 

(Continued  on  next  page) 


FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST 


53 


(Table  X>  continued) 


2C2 

296 

67 

23 

2E1 

287 

86 

22 

2H1 

286 

76 

21 

2L1 

281 

72 

22 

2Y1 

280 

87 

21 

2D1 

277 

81 

20 

2B2 

273 

76 

19 

2B1 

271 

79 

19 

2G1 

194 

63 

20 

Total 

15011 

3463 

936 

Average 

341.2 

78.7 

21.25 

Median 

340.5 

78.5 

21 

M.  V. 

38.3 

6.9 

1.45 

F. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

M. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

M. 


Ind.  No. 

1J2 

1W4 

1S5 

1A2 

1R3 

1A3 

1H3 

1R2 

1C1 

1F2 

1S9 

IC2 

1G4 

1G6 

1B1 

101 

1M9 

1S3 


TABLE  XL 

College  Freshmen. 
V.  I.      Av.  G. 


420 
411 
401 
387 
382 
381 
372 
372 
371 
370 
365 
364 
356 
355 
352 
351 
346 
346 


65 
73 
69 
60 
84 
54 
84 
75 
85 
79 
75 
78 
67 
73 
91 
62 
76 
66 


Age. 

20 

19 

20 

19 

23 

20 

21 

19 

17 

19 

21 

19 

19 

20 

20 

22 

18 

19 


Sex 
M. 
M. 
M. 
M. 
F. 
M. 
M. 
M. 
M. 
M. 
F. 
M. 
M. 
M. 
F. 
M. 
F. 
F. 


(Continued  on  next  page) 


54  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

(Table  XI,  continued) 

1K3  340  77  18  F 

1P2  339  88  18                 M 

1A1  337  71  20                 M 

1M3  335  76  20  F 

1S1  333  66  21  F 

1F1  331  84  20  F* 

1J1  330  92  20                 M 

1S4  329  83  19  M 

1M7  329  65  21  M 

1B3  321  74  20  M' 

1G2  320  71  21  M 

IMS  317  63  21  F 

1S6  315  76  19  F* 

1W1  311  87  19  F 

1H1  305  76  20  F* 

INI  297  72  19  F 

1ST  294  67  21  F 

1D2  293  82  20  M. 

1M6  292  88  18  F 

1T3  290  72  18  F* 

1P3  283  67  24  M. 

1K1  282  80  20  F 

1W5  277  66  24  M 

1S2  277  52  19  M.' 

1L4  276  70-17  F 

1D1  276  65  20  M 

1K2  273  88  20  M 

1H4  268  75  22  M* 

1N2  267  65  19  F* 

1T4  265  69  20  F* 

1F3  261  72  19  F* 

1L2  260  61  20  M 

1B2  259  76  19  M. 

1G5  257  66  20  F 

1T1  251  86  18  M 

1G3  246  92  19  F 

1S8  245  77  29  M 

1E1  238  68  20  F.' 
(Continued  on  next  page) 


FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST 


55 


(Table  XI,  continued) 


1L2 

1M5 

1M4 

1W2 

1P1 

1T2 

1B4 

1B5 

1W3 

1H2 

1R1 

1M2 

1M1 

1L3 


235 
234 
232 
230 
229 
223 
220 
217 
215 
177 
175 
173 
130 
111 


Total    20622 
Average   294.6 
Median    293.5 
M.  V.     53.6 


62 

19 

67 

19 

65 

22 

59 

19 

72 

19 

81 

17 

73 

19 

73 

19 

65 

19 

61 

19 

56 

20 

87 

19 

57 

20 

57 

20 

5076 

1387 

72.5 

19.8 

72 

20 

7.9 

1.1 

F. 

F. 

F. 

M. 

F. 

M. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

M. 

F. 

F. 

M. 

M. 


Ind.  No. 

V.I. 

04E1 

426 

04S3 

376 

04S1 

366 

04G1 

365 

04T1 

363 

04R1 

332 

04H1 

330 

04G2 

327 

0401 

326 

04L2 

310 

04M1 

305 

04B1 

296 

TABLE  XII. 
High  School  Seniors. 

Av.  G.  Age.  Sex 

A  18  F. 

B  17  F. 

A  19  M. 

B  18  M. 

A  18  F. 

B  19  F. 

B  18  F. 

B  17  M. 

C  18  F. 

B  20  M. 

C  18  F. 

B  18  F. 

(Continued  on  next  page) 


56 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


(Table 

XII,  continued) 

04B3 

278 

C 

19 

04G3 

274 

A 

19 

04B2 

273 

B 

18 

04C1 

265 

B 

19 

04L1 

257 

B 

19 

04K1 

248 

B 

18 

04C2 

245 

C 

18 

04H2 

238 

A 

17 

04S2 

204 

B 

18 

Total 

6404 

383 

Average 

305 

18.24 

Median 

305 

18 

M.  V. 

44.9 

.94 

M. 

F. 

F. 

F. 

M. 

M. 

F. 

M. 

F. 


TABLE  XIII. 

High  School  Freshmen. 

Ind.  No.  V.  I. 

01S4  352 

01G1  339 

01M2  317 

01M1  314 

01A1  305 

01P1  300 

01T1  297 

01L1  295 

0151  290 
01Y1  276 
01N2  270 
01H1  264 
01S3  264 

0152  258 
01M3  256 
01J2  245 
01D2  231 
01J1  218 

(Continued  on  next  page) 


Av.  G. 

Age. 

Sex 

A 

15 

M. 

C 

16 

M. 

B 

14 

M. 

A 

17 

F. 

A 

15 

F. 

A 

17 

F. 

B 

16 

M. 

B 

15 

M. 

A 

15 

F. 

C 

16 

F. 

B 

14 

M. 

B 

14 

F. 

B 

16 

M. 

B 

15 

M. 

C 

15 

F. 

C 

16 

M. 

C 

15 

M. 

C 

15 

F. 

FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST 


57 


01N1 
01D1 
01P2 
01F1 

Total 
Average 
•  Median 
M.  V. 

(Table 

202 
196 
194 

182 

XIII,  continued) 

B                     14 
C                     16 
C                 16 
B                 16 

5865 
266.6 
267 

38.4 

338 
15.4 
15 
.5 

F. 
M. 
M. 
F. 


TABLE  XIV. 


Sex  Influences. 


A.     Male. 

Ind.  No. 

V.I. 

4D2 

492 

4W1 

417 

4D1 

405 

4H3 

358 

4A1 

301 

Total 

1973 

Average 

394.6 

Median 

405 

M.  V. 

52.1 

College  Seniors. 

B.     Female 


Ind.  No. 

V.  I. 

4H2 

449 

4S2 

408 

4S1 

396 

4K1 

389 

4S3 

374 

4M1 

354 

4H1 

339 

4R1 

339 

4G1 

329 

4B1 

295 

Total 

3672 

Average 

367.2 

Median 

364 

M.  V. 

36 

TABLE  XV. 

Sex  Influences.     College  Juniors. 
A.     Male.  B.     Female 

Ind.  No.  V.  I.  Ind.  No.  V.  I. 

3S1  442  3J2  467 

3N1  442  3S2  445 

(Continued  on  next  page) 


58  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


(Table  XV,  continued) 

3H8  437  3S8  435 

3H2  436  3W1  424 

3M1  427  3G3  407 

3S3  391  3E2  404 

3C2  381  3H6  403 

3R3  376  3B6  402 

3T2  367     .  3S6  379 

3E1  365  3S4  369 

3B5  356  3B9  365 

3B7  345  3F1  358 

3T1  342  3Y1  358 

3B2  327  3H7  357 

3B4  314  3F2  355 

3G2  314  3H1  355 

3C1  279  3E3  354 

3R2  269  •  3D1  345 

3H4  216  3L1  337 

3V1  333 

Total        6826  3B3  327 

Average     359.3  3J1  324 

Median      365  3H5  318 

M.  V.  44.3  3P2  311 

3L2  299 

3P1  291 

3S5  279 

3B1  274 

3B8  264 

3R1  264 

3S7  222 

3G1  221 

3H3  208 


Total  11254 

Average  344 

Median  354 

M.  V.  50.5 


FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST  59 


TABLE  XVI. 

Sex  Influences.     College  Sophomores 
A.     Male.  B.     Female 

Ind.  No.  V.  I.  Ind.  No.  V.  I. 

2J2  434  2H2  414 

2W6  418  2T2  401 

2N1  409  2P1  395 

403  2T1  388 

2F1  398  2B3  380 

2W2  383  2G3  371 

2K1  375  2C6  355 

2W3  367  2G2  351 

2B6  362  2W1  350 

2B5  354  2D2  341 

2M2  354  2W5  340 

2W4  345  2S1  331 

2J1  338  2C5  328 

2T3  330  2C1  327 

2S2  324  2M1  322 

2B4  311  2S3  321 

2Y1  280  2A1  320 

2G1  194  2C4  314 

2C3  312 

Total        6379  2C2  296 

Average     354.4  2E1  287 

Median      358  2H1  286 

M.  V.  39.9  2L1  281 

2D1  277 

2B2  273 

2B1  271 

Total  -  8632 

Average  332 

Median  327.5 

M.  V.  33.4 


60  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

TABLE  XVII. 

Sex  Influences.     College  Freshmen. 

A.    Male.  B.     Female 

Ind.  No.           V.  I.  Ind.  No.           V.  I. 

1J2  420  1R3  382 

1W4  411  1S9  365 

1S5  401  1B1  352 

1A2  387  1M9  346 

1A3  381  1S3  346 

1H3  372  1K3  340 

1R2  372  1M3  335 

1C1       *          371               .  1S1  333 

1F2  370  1F1  331 

1C2  364  1M8  317 

1G4  356  1S6  315 

1G6  355  1W1  311 

101  351  1H1  305 

1P2  339  INI  297 

1A1  337  1S7  294 

Ul  330  1M6  292 

1S4  329  1T3  290 

1M7  329  1K1  282 

1B3  321  1L4  276 

1G2  320  1N2  267 

1D2  293  1T4  265 

1P3  283  1F3  261 

1W5  277  1G5  257 

1S2  277  1G3              ,    246 

1D1  276  1E1  238 

1K2  273  1L2  235 

1H4  268  1M5  234 

1L2  260  1M4  232 

1B2  259  1P1  229 

1T1  251  1B4  220 

1S8  245  1B5  217 

1W2  230  1W3  215 

1T2  223  1R1  175 

(Continued  on  next  page) 


FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST  61 

(Table  XVII,  continued) 

1H2  177  1M2  173 

1M1  130 

1L3  111  Total 

Average 

Total      11049  Median 

Average     306.9  M.  V. 

Median      325 

M.  V.  59.9 


l^ABLE  XVIII. 

Sex  Influences.    High 

School  Seniors. 

A.     Male. 

B. 

Female 

Ind.  No.           V.  I. 

Ind.  No. 

V.  I. 

04S1               366 

04E1 

426 

04G1              365 

04S3 

376 

04G2              327 

04T1 

363 

04L2               310 

04R1 

332 

04B3               278 

04H1 

330 

04L1               257 

0401 

326 

04K1              248 

04M1 

305 

04H2              238 

04B1 

296 



04G3 

274 

Total        2389 

04B2 

273 

Average     298.6 

04C1 

265 

Median      294 

04C2 

245 

M.  V.           43.4 

04S2 

204 

Total 

4015 

Average 

308.8 

Median 

305 

M.  V. 

46.1 

62 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


TABLE  XIX. 


Sex  Influences. 
A.     Male. 


Ind.  No. 

V.  I. 

01S4 

352 

01G1 

339 

01M2 

317 

01T1 

297 

01L1 

295 

01N2 

270 

01S3 

264 

01S2 

258 

01J2 

245 

01D2 

231 

01D1 

196 

01P2 

194 

Total 

3258 

Average 

271.5 

Median 

267 

M.  V. 

40.4 

High  School  Freshmen. 

B.     Female 
Ind.  No.  V.  I. 


01M1 
01A1 
01P1 
01S1 
01Y1 
01H1 
01M3 
-01J1 
01N1 
01F1 

Total 
Average 
Median 
M.  V. 


314 
305 
300 
290 
276 
264 
256 
218 
202 
182 


TABLE  XX. 

General. 

Ind.  No.  V.  I. 

Bl  576 

Jl  510 

B2  498 

SI  490 

Al  461 

Rl  452 

G2  451 

Gl  430 

G4  429 

HI  426 

Wl  414 

(Continued  on  next  page) 


Sex 
M. 
F. 
M. 
M. 
F. 
M. 
M. 
F. 
F. 
M. 
F. 


FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST 


63 


G3 
Kl 
H2 
W2 
Dl 


(Table  XX,  continued) 

384 
376 
368 
333 
315 


Total 
Average 
Median 
M.  V. 


F. 
F. 
F. 
F. 

M. 


6913 
432 
429.5 
51.7 


A. 


Ind.  No. 

Bl 

576 

B2 

498 

SI 

490 

Rl 

452 

G2 

451 

HI 

426 

Dl 

315 

TABLE  XXI. 

Sex  Influences.     General. 
Male. 

V.I. 


Total        3208 
Average     458.3 
Median      452 
M.  V.  39.8 


B. 

Female 

Ind.  No. 

V.  I. 

Jl 

510 

Al 

461 

Gl 

430 

G4 

429 

Wl 

414 

G3 

384 

Kl 

376 

H2 

368 

W2 

333 

Total 

3705 

Average 

411.7 

Median 

414 

M.V. 

41 

64  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

TABLE  XXII. 

Relation  Between  Major  Subject  and  Vocabulary 


Ind.  No. 

3J2 

3H2 

3W1 

3G3 

3E2 

3H6 

3C2 

3R3 

3S4 

3T2 

3B9 

3F1 

3Y1 

3H7 

3H1 

3E3 

3L1 

3B3 

3J1 

3H5 

3G2 

3P2 

3L2 

3P1 

3S5 

3C1 

3B1 

3R1 

3S7 

3H4 

3H3 


College  Juniors. 

V.  I. 

Major  Subject 

467 

English. 

436 

Physics 

424 

Biology 

407 

Economics 

404 

English 

403 

English 

381 

English 

376 

Biology 

369 

English 

367 

English 

365 

Education 

358 

English 

358 

Education 

357 

Biology 

355 

Psycology 

354 

English 

337 

German 

327 

Education 

324 

English 

318 

English 

314 

English 

311 

English 

299 

Latin 

291 

Mathematics 

279 

English 

279 

Chemistry 

274 

Philosophy 

264 

English 

222 

History 

216 

Mathematics 

208 

Biology 

FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST  65 

TABLE  XXIII. 

Sex  Influences  upon  Size  of  Vocabulary. 

Scholastic  Status.           V.  I.  Male.  V.  I.  Female 

College  Seniors               394.6  367.2 

College  Juniors               359.3  344 

College  Sophomores       354.4  332 

College  Freshmen          306.9  281.6 

High  School  Seniors      298.6  308.8 

High  School  Fr'hmen    271.5  260.7 


Total*         1985.3  1894.3 

Average*      330.9  315.7 

Total  for  College  only,* 

1415.2  1324.8 

Av.  for  College  only*  353.8  331.2 

TABLE  XXIV. 

Average  Vocabulary  in  Relation  to  Scholastic  Status 

Scholastic  Status.  Vocabulary. 

High  School  Freshmen  66,650 

High  School  Seniors  76,250 

College  Freshmen  73,650 

College  Sophomores  85,300 

College  Juniors  86,925 

College  Seniors  94,075 

High  School,  average*  71,450 

College,  average*  84,988 

A  glance  at  the  tables  is  sufficient  to  convince  the 
most  skeptical  that,  taking  the  cases  individually, 
there  is  no  agreement  worthy  of  note  between  the 
size  of  vocabulary  and  scholastic  grades.  In  the 
case  of  the  college  seniors  the  individual  who  leads 
in  the  vocabulary  list  also  has  the  highest  grade. 
But  the  person  ranking  second  in  size  of  vocabulary 
falls  below  the  average  in  respect  to  grades.  Among 

*  Computed  by  class  averages. 


66  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

the  juniors  we  find  an  individual  with  a  grade  of  91, 
which  is  exceptionally  high,  ranking  far  down  on 
the  scale  in  size  of  vocabulary.  The  sophomore 
leading  the  list  has  a  grade  of  77,  which  is  below  the 
average,  while  the  freshman  leading  his  class  in  vo- 
cabulary has  an  average  grade  of  only  65.  In  brief, 
considering  the  cases  individually,  we  are  forced  to 
the  conclusion  that  there  is  absolutely  no  agreement 
adequate  for  practical  purposes  between  the  size  of 
vocabulary  and  scholastic  grades. 

Nevertheless,  in  a  very  general  way  there  is  a  cer- 
tain agreement  between  size  of  vocabulary  and 
grades.  Thus,  if  we  take  the  average  vocabulary  in- 
dex for  all  the  college  seniors  who  rank  above  the 
average  in  scholastic  grades  and  compare  this  with 
the  vocabulary  index  for  all  those  seniors  ranking 
below  the  average  in  grades  we  find  a  difference  of 
50.  The  vocabulary  indices  are  403  for  those  above 
the  average  grade  and  353  for  those  below.  Treating 
the  other  college  classes  similarly  the  results  show 
that  in  every  instance  the  average  vocabulary  index 
for  those  students  ranking  above  the  average  in  scho- 
lastic grades  is  greater  than  that  for  those  ranking 
below  the  average.  The  figures  are,  for  the  juniors, 
355.2  and  342.2,  giving  a  difference  of  13;  for  the 
sophomores,  343.4  and  338.9,  the  difference  being 
4.5;  and  for  the  freshmen,  310.5  and  279.6,  with  a 
difference  of  30.9.  We  may,  therefore,  make  the 
assertion  that  in  a  very  general  way  there  is  a  posi- 
tive correlation  between  size  of  Vocabulary  and  scho- 
lastic grades. 

Tables  XIV  to  XIX  inclusive  show  that,  in  gener- 
al, the  vocabulary  of  the  male  is  somewhat  larger 
than  that  of  the  female.  This  fact  is  shown  more 
clearly  in  Table  XXIII.  In  only  one  class,  the  high 
school  seniors,  does  the  average  vocabulary  for  the 
female  exceed  that  for  the  male.  Taking  the  college 
classes  only,  the  superiority  of  the  male's  vocabulary 
is  quite  marked.  It  is  well  to  state  here  that,  in  the 


FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST  67 

opinion  of  the  writer,  the  college  students  who  acted 
as  subjects  for  this  vocabulary  test  were  more  repre- 
sentative than  were  the  high  school  students.  This 
was  due  to  the  manner  in  which  these  subjects  were 
selected.  Furthermore,  in  the  college  classes,  with 
the  exception  of  the  seniors,  the  groups  tested  are 
much  larger  than  in  the  high  school  classes.  For 
this  reason  the  data  concerning  the  college  students 
is  probably  more  reliable  than  that  concerning  the 
high  school  students. 

Tables  XX  and  XXI,  which  present  data  concern- 
ing a  number  of  people  not  entered  in  either  the  high 
school  or  the  college,  are  offered  merely  for  compari- 
son, and  as  individual  tests  having  to  do  with  total 
size  of  vocabularies.  The  persons  experimented  up- 
on were  from  various  walks  of  life,  some  of  them  be- 
ing college  graduates  and  others  having  had  only  a 
common  grade  school  education.  Their  ages  are  for 
the  most  part  between  20  and  30.  The  number  of 
persons  is  too  few  and  the  data  concerning  them  too 
inadequate  to  furnish  material  for  reliable  conclu- 
sions. The  persons  are  certainly  not  representative 
of  the  average  type  of  individual.  The  majority  of 
them  are  college  graduates.  Several,  however,  who 
have  had  no  college  education,  perhaps  not  even  a 
high  school  education,  rank  above  the  average  of 
this  group  in  size  of  vocabulary.  And  the  average 
for  this  group  is  far  above  that  for  any  other  group 
considered. 

According  to  the  data  presented  in  Table  XXII, 
there  is  little,  if  any,  relation  between  major  subject 
and  size  of  vocabulary.  Apparently  English  majors 
are  slightly  above  the  average,  though  without  more 
complete  data  we  are  not  warranted  in  arriving  at 
any  trustworthy  conclusions  in  this  respect.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  among  the  seniors  who  were  tested 
those  majoring  in  English  were  not  up  to  the  aver- 
age in  respect  to  size  of  vocabulary.  Only  juniors 
are  represented  in  Table  XXII,  the  reason  being 


68  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

that  for  this  class  only  was  there  sufficient  data  at 
hand  for  adequate  tabulation  concerning  majors. 
The  seniors  were  not  selected  due  to  the  paucity 
of  those  tested.  Table  XXII  should,  however,  prob- 
ably suffice  to  show  that  major  subjects  furnish  us 
with  no  means  of  judging  reliably  the  relative  size 
of  vocabularies. 

Note. —  A  great  deal  has  been  said,  especially  in  recent 
years,  concerning  the  value  of  Latin  and  Greek  and  the  effects 
of  these  subjects  upon  the  English  vocabulary.  As  has  been 
previously  mentioned,  the  tests  at  Colorado  College  give  us 
practically  no  reliable  data  on  this  phase  of  the  subject.  In 
the  writer's  opinion,  however,  the  value  of  a  study  of  the 
classics  in  connection  with  English  has  been  somewhat  uni- 
versally overestimated.  A  few  possibly  go  to  the  other  ex- 
treme. Beyer  says,  "Ninety-nine  and  a  half  per  cent  of  the 
words  we  speak  and  hear  are  native  English" (9).  Cham- 
berlain claims  that  the  modern  English  requires  "a  lexicon 
nearly  fifty  times  as  large  as  that  which  interprets  all  there 
is  left  of  the  prose  and  verse  of  her  would-be  Latin  masters" 
(15).  It  is  true  that  many  of  our  words  are  based  upon 
Latin  and  Greek  roots,  while  a  comparatively  few  have  come 
to  us  with  little  or  no  change.  However,  it  is  well  to  bear 
in  mind  the  fact  that  modern  English  words  which  are 
founded  upon  Latin  or  Greek  bases  have  in  many  cases  be- 
come so  dissimilar  to  the  originals  that  even  the  best  student 
of  the  classics  is  unable  to  define  them  accurately  simply  Dy 
applying  their  former  classical  meaning.  The  writer  has 
observed  a  number  of  hiq-hly  ludicrous  attempts  at  the  defini- 
tion of  English  words  by  use  of  the  meaning  of  the  Latin  or 
Greek  originals.  Nevertheless,  let  us  not  lose  sight  of  the 
fact  that  in  general  extensive  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek 
roots,  prefixes,  and  suffixes  will  prove  to  be  an  almost  incal- 
culable aid  in  certain  lines  of  study,  especially  in  a  number 
of  the  sciences.  It  is  in  this  realm  that  we  may  expect  the  clos- 
est approximation  to  the  English  definition  by  use  of  the 
original  meaning.  That  the  classics  are  a  great  aid  to  the 
scientist  who  wishes  to  form  new  words  need  not  be  question- 
ed. For  example,  the  chemist  may  desire  to  follow  the  Ger- 
man plan  of  including  in  one  word  an  entire  descriptive  sen- 
tence, and  as  a  result  we  have  the  following  rather  startling 
contribution:  tetramethyldiamidotriphenylmethane.  The  psy- 
chologist desires  to  use  a  term  expressing  an  unreasonable 
fear  of  losing  one's  position;  not  being  able  to  find  such  a 
term  in  the  dictionary,  he  has  recourse  to  the  classics  and 
manufactures  the  word,  deempleophobia;  this  word  carries 


FALSE  DEFINITION  TEST  69 

with  it  the  antonym  expressive  of  the  hobo's  attitude  toward 
work,  empleophobia ;  similarly,  as  a  counter-term  to  empleo- 
mania  we  may  devise  the  expression,  deempleomania.  Thus 
the  classics  are  called  to  aid  when  the  approved  vernacular  is 
found  to  be  inadequate. 

The  results  offered  in  Table  XXIV  are  computed 
on  the  basis  that  each  word  in  the  vocabulary  test 
represents  250  words  in  the  dictionary.  According 
to  these  calculations  the  average  college  student  is 
in  command  of  85,000  words,  while  the  average  high 
school  student  knows  about  14,000  fewer  terms. 
These  results  seem  very  much  out  of  proportion 
when  compared  with  the  figures  offered  by  other  in- 
vestigators. Additional  comment  upon  this  matter  is 
to  be  found  in  Part  IV  of  this  treatise. 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  the  extremely  wide  vari- 
ation in  the  size  of  individual  vocabularies.  For  ex- 
ample, a  number  of  college  freshmen  rank  above  the 
average  senior  in  vocabulary  index.  Several  high 
school  freshmen  rank  higher  than  the  lowest  of  the 
college  seniors.  One  high  school  senior  actually  has 
at  command,  if  the  test  is  a  reliable  indicator,  more 
words  than  any  one  of  the  college  freshmen.  The 
mean  variation  of  a  group  demonstrates  nicely  the 
wide  range  of  individuals  within  the  group. 

We  have  seen  that  there  is  no  correlation,  except 
in  a  very  inadequately  general  way,  between  size  of 
vocabulary  and  scholastic  grades.  Can  we  then  ad- 
here to  the  statement  that  words  represent  intelli- 
gence? Is  theory  overthrown  by  fact?  Grades  rep- 
resent a  certain  kind  of  intelligence.  If  words  also 
represent  intelligence,  and  there  is  no  correlation 
worthy  of  note  between  grades  and  size  of  vocabu- 
lary, how  are  we  to  explain  this  paradox  ?  We  find, 
furthermore,  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the  vocabulary 
of  the  male  is  larger  than  that  of  the  female.  Is 
there  any  explanation  for  this  phenomenon  ?  Then, 
too,  how  are  we  to  explain  the  great  discrepancy 
which  these  tests  which  have  just  been  described 


70  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

bear  toward  the  experiments  of  others  in  reference 
to  the  total  size  of  vocabularies?  These  problems 
and  others  of  a  similar  nature  will  be  discussed  in 

"Dm»4-  T\T 


Part  IV. 


CONCLUSIONS. 

PART  IV. 

As  has  been  previously  mentioned,  we  find  in  the 
field  of  •  vocabulary  research  a  wide  divergence  of 
opinion.  It  is  only  by  the  generalization  of  data  col- 
lected from  various  sources  that  one  is  able  to  arrive 
at  trustworthy  conclusions.  Consideration  must  al- 
so be  given  to  the  methods  employed  by  the  investi- 
gators. Let  us  review  briefly  several  of  the  most 
important  of  these  methods. 

In  determining  the  vocabulary  of  an  infant, 
doubtless  the  most  satisfactory  process  is  that  of  re- 
cording all  the  words  used  by  the  infant  during  a 
period,  a  month  for  instance ;  taking  care  that  arti- 
ficial occasions  are  produced  for  the  use  of  such 
words  as  it  is  felt  the  child  may  know  but  has  failed 
to  use  spontaneously.  This  method,  or  a  variation 
of  it,  is  the  only  one  feasible  for  the  study  of  the 
vocabulary  of  a  very  young  child.  It  is  obvious  that 
the  infant  cannot  define  words  in  terms  of  other 
word  symbols,  nor  can  he  recognize  definitions  of 
words  in  terms  of  other  words.  Hence  the  only 
adequate  manner  in  which  the  vocabulary  of  the 
child  up  to  the  fifth  or  sixth  year  can  be  determined 
is  to  record  the  words  actually  used  by*  him. 

The  method  of  recording  the  words  actually  used 
is  of  little  value  for  investigations  beyond  the  age 
of  infancy.  For  after  the  child  has  reached  the  age 


72  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

of  five  or  six  he  knows  a  great  number  of  words 
which  he  has  no  occasion  to  use  in  ordinary  conver- 
sation. Therefore  a  different  method  must  be  em- 
ployed for  the  calculation  of  his  vocabulary.  To 
the  writer  it  seems  that  in  order  to  record  with 
even  satisfactory  approximation  the  child's  vocabu- 
lary after  he  has  passed  the  age  of  infancy,  resort 
must  be  had  to  the  dictionary.  For  the  child  in  the 
lower  grades  a  small  dictionary,  such  as  the  Elemen- 
tary School  Edition  of  Webster's,  should  be  efficient. 
The  investigator  should  present  the  words,  one  at  a 
time,  to  the  child,  asking  him  to  define,  or  explain, 
each  word  with  which  he  is  familiar.  Such  words 
as  it  is  felt  the  child  does  not  know  may  be  omitted 
from  the  test.  Until  the  child  has  reached  an  age 
at  which  he  is  able  to  recognize  in  print  practically 
all  the  words  which  he  knows,  the  experiment  must 
be  conducted  vocally,  on  the  part  of  both  the  instruc- 
tor and  the  child.  A  less  accurate  method  than  that 
of  taking  all  the  words  in  the  dictionary  is  to  take  a 
representative  list  and  calculate  the  total  vocabulary 
from  the  number  of  words  known  in  this  list.  The 
latter  process  is,  except  in  the  case  of  thorough  in- 
dividual tests,  the  most  satisfactory,  especially  for 
older  children  and  adults. 

As  the  child  grows  older  a  larger  dictionary 
should  be  used.  For  adults  the  largest  dictionary 
available  will  give  the  most  reliable  results.  For 
the  older  child  and  the  adult  the  experiment  may  be 
conducted  either  orally  or  in  writing  or  print.  If 
the  individual  who  is  being  tested  is  required  to  give 
definitions  for  the  words,  the  final  result  will  be  the 
number  of  words  which  he  can  actually  define.  This 
might,  for  want  of  a  better  term,  perhaps  be  called 
his  absolute  vocabulary.  However,  every  person  is 
more  or  less  familiar  with  a  number  of  words  which 
he  can  not  define  but  would  recognize  in  context. 
These  words,  together  with  those  which  he  can  actu- 
ally define,  would  constitute  his  understanding  vo- 


CONCLUSIONS  73 

cabulary.*  The  term  "practical  vocabulary"  may  be 
applied  to  either  of  these  two  kinds  of  vocabularies 
—depending  entirely  upon  the  manner  of  consider- 
ing the  term.  For  the  former,  or  absolute,  vocabu- 
lary is  practical  in  one  sense — that  of  individual 
usage;  while  merely  for  the  purpose  of  individual 
understanding,  the  latter  vocaublary  is.  to  be  consid- 
ered practical. 

For  the  estimation  of  an  individual's  absolute  vo- 
cabulary the  greatest  difficulty  to  be  encountered  is 
in  regard  to  the  accuracy  of  his  definitions.  It  is  of- 
ten extremely  hard  to  judge  by  a  person's  definition 
of  a  word  whether  or  not  the  meaning  of  the  word  is 
clear  to  him.  The  system  of  having  the  subject 
merely  mark  those  words  with  which  he  is  familiar 
is  very  unreliable  and  should  not  be  used  without  an 
adequate  means  of  checking  the  errors. 

In  order  to  estimate  an  individual's  understand- 
ing vocabulary  a  system  similar  to  that  used  by  the 
writer  will  probably  prove  to  be  the  most  satis- 
factory. In  this  particular  instance  definitions  were 
supplied  for  only  a  portion  of  the  words.  The  re- 
mainder are  so  unusual,  however,  that  even  though 
suggestions  had  been  offered  few  of  the  words  would 
have  been  known  to  the  average  person.  Further- 
more, these  words  for  which  definitions  were  not 
supplied  are  for  the  most  part  of  such  a  nature  that 
in  order  to  be  able  to  understand  them,  except  in  a 
vague,  general  way,  one  must  be  able  actually  to 
define  them. 

Note:  Certain  preliminary  investigations  and  obser- 
vances lead  the  writer  to  believe  that  a  reasonably  adequate 

*Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall  apparently  recognizes  a  very  similar 
distinction:  "He  (the  child)  may  live  as  a  peasant,  using,  as 
Max  Muller  says  many  do,  but  a  few  hundred  words  during 
his  lifetime,  or  he  may  need  8,000,  like  Milton,  15,000,  like 
Shakespeare,  20,000  or  30,000,  like  Huxley,  who  commanded 
both  literary  and  technical  terms ;  while  in  understanding, 
which  far  outstrips  use,  a  philologist  may  master  perhaps 
100,000  or  200,000  words" (23). 


74  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

test  for  determining  the  size  of  an  individual's  vocabulary 
could  be  obtained  by  simply  applying  a  thorough  dictionary 
test  of  all  the  words  beginning  with  the  letter  c;  the  result 
multiplied  by  10  should  give  a  fairly  close  approximation  to 
the  total  vocabulary  size. 

It  is  the  writer's  hope  at  some  future  date  to  be  able  to 
present  a  scale  of  perhaps  one  thousand  words,  arranged  in 
order  of  their  difficulty,  beginning  with  the  simplest  words 
of  infancy  and  ending  with  the  most  complex  words  of  ma- 
turity. The  scale  could  be  graded  in  terms  of  percentage 
or  otherwise.  In  order  to  conduct  a  vocabulary  test  with  this 
scale,  the  experimenter  would  merely  determine  at  what  posi- 
tion on  the  scale  the  individual  tested  could  no  longer  give 
adequate  definitions;  it  goes  without  soying  that  allowances 
would  need  to  be  made  for  isolated  words,  both  known  and 
unknown.  A  suggestive  list  somewhat  of  this  sort  is  to  be 
found  in  the  appendix.  Preliminary  investigations  with  this 
list  have  been  very  encouraging. 

Let  us  now  review  briefly  the  results  of  the  tests 
which  have  to  do  with  size  of  vocabulary  in  com- 
parison to  scholastic  grades.  Doran  believed  that 
those  who  ranked  high  in  their  classes  had  a  good 
vocabulary,  and  that  those  who  had  a  good  vocabu- 
lary ranked  high  in  their  classes.  Kirkpatrick 
found  in  general  a  tendency  toward  positive  corre- 
lation between  size  of  vocabulary  and  class  records 
(33).  Whipple  arrived  at  similar  conclusions  (59). 
Kirkpatrick  even  suggests  that  vocabulary  tests 
might  be  substituted  for  college  entrance  examina- 
tions (33).  Babbitt  actually  employed  a  vocabulary 
test  in  connection  with  examination  for  entrance  to, 
and  graduation  from,  certain  courses  in  German  (1). 

The  results  of  the  experiments  conducted  at  Colo- 
rado College  prove  conclusively  that  the  substitution 
of  a  vocabulary  test  for  examinations  to  determine 
a  person's  qualifications  in  regard  to  scholastic  stat- 
us as  recorded  in  the  present  system  of  grading 
would  be  absolutely  futile.  Individuals  making  very 
high  grades  are  to  be  found  near  the  bottom  as  well 
as  at  the  top  of  the  vocabulary  scale.  Other  indi- 
viduals whose  grades  are  below  the  passing  mark 
rank  far  above  the  average  in  size  of  vocabulary. 
Results  of  classes  overlap,  even  through  such  a  wide 


CONCLUSIONS  75 

range  as  that  between  the  high  school  freshmen  and 
the  college  seniors.  Though  there  is  a  very  general 
positive  correlation  between  size  of  vocabulary  and 
scholastic  grades,  the  individual  variations  are  too 
common  and  too  great  to  permit  conclusions  to  the 
effect  that  a  person  having  a  large  vocabulary  will 
make  good  grades,  or  vice  versa. 

How  then  are  we  to  explain  the  paradoxical  state- 
ment that  vocabularies,  as  well  as  grades,  are  an  in- 
dication of  intellect?  Since  a  word  is  the  sign  of  an 
idea,  and  since  ideas  make  for  intellect,  certainly 
the  more  words,  and  combinations  of  words,  which 
an  individual  has  at  his  command,  the  greater  will 
be  his  range  of  intelligence.  But  this  is  general  in- 
telligence. Class  grades  are  an  indication  of  ap- 
plied, or  specific,  intelligence.  Herein  we  see  the 
explanation  for  the  lack  of  positive  correlation  be- 
tween grades  and  size  of  vocabulary.  Though  both 
indicate  intelligence,  the  intelligence  in  the  one  case 
is  specific  while  in  the  other  it  is  general.  A  person 
of  comparatively  low  general  intelligence  may,  by 
thorough  application  to  the  particular  subjects  un- 
der consideration,  make  most  excellent  grades. 
Whereas  a  person  ranking  high  in  general  intelli- 
gence may  encounter  either  a  real  or  an  imaginary 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  his  making  high  marks  in  the 
class  room.  In  certain  cases  it  may  actually  be  im- 
possible for  a  person  of  high  intellect  to  apply  his 
intelligence  to  the  particular  subject  under  consider- 
ation with  sufficient  specificity  to  rank  high  in  that 
subject.  Scholastic  grades  are  an  indication  of  the 
specific  application  of  intelligence.  This  intelli- 
gence may  be  either  general  or  specific  in  itself.  Or- 
dinarily we  would  expect  the  person  with  high  gen- 
eral intelligence  to  be  able  to  apply  himself  specifi- 
cally with  more  effectiveness  than  the  person  with  a 
low  rate  of  general  intelligence.  This  supposition 
is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  in  a  very  general  way 
there  is  a  positive  correlation  between  size  of  vocab- 
ulary and  grades. 


76  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

In  regard  to  sex  influences,  other  investigators 
have  furnished  us  with  very  little  reliable  data.  Sev- 
eral authors  agree  that  there  seems  to  be  a  tendency 
toward  a  larger  vocabulary  for  the  man  than  for  the 
woman.  The  boy,  except  in  the  case  of  infants,  is 
thought  to  know  more  words  than  the  girl.  Among 
infants,  it  is  generally  agreed,  the  girl  has  the  larger 
vocabulary.  It  is  commonly  known  that  girls  usu- 
ally learn  to  talk  at  an  earlier  age  than  do  boys. 
Though  data  to  prove  these  statements  is  lacking, 
we  may  doubtless  accept  them  as  reliable.* 

According  to  the  results  presented  in  the  tables  of 
Part  III  the  vocabulary  for  the  male  is,  in  general, 
larger  than  that  for  the  female.  In  only  one  class 
test,  that  of  the  high  school  seniors,  was  the  reverse 
true.  Neither  of  the  high  school  groups,  owing  to 
the  manner  of  selection,  is  to  be  considered  ade- 
quately representative.  Considering  the  college  stu- 
dents alone  the  preponderance  of  the  male's  vocabu- 
lary over  that  of  the  female  is  quite  marked.  We 
are  justified  in  concluding  that,  in  general,  the  man 
has  a  larger  vocabulary  than  the  woman. 

The  girl  learns  to  talk  at  an  earlier  age  than  does 
the  boy,  and  thus  at  the  beginning  has  the  lead  in 
the  race  for  vocabulary.  The  boy,  however,  after 
once  acquiring  speech,  develops  in  linguistic  powers 
more  rapidly  than  the  girl.  He  becomes  of  an  in- 
quisitive turn  of  mind,  spends  much  of  his  time  out 
of  doors,  comes  into  contact  with  more  varied  exper- 
iences than  does  his  sister,  and  consequently  be- 
comes the  possessor  of  a  larger  vocabulary.  The 
girl  is  more  quiet  and  reserved  than  the  boy;  she 
plays  with  dolls  while  her  brother  is,  though  neces- 
sarily in  a  small  way,  coming  into  contact  with  the 
outer  world;  the  girl,  being  less  inquisitive,  conse- 
quently learns  fewer  general  terms;  her  tendency 
is  to  concentrate  on  the  things  most  closely  related 

*Whipple  (59)  and  Hall  (23)  have  both  shown  that  there 
tends  to  be  a  superiority  of  range  of  information  in  the  male. 


CONCLUSIONS  77 

to  her.  Thus,  even  in  childhood  we  find  a  tendency 
on  the  part  of  the  male  to  generalize,  while  the  fe- 
male specializes.  This  tendency  is  retained  through- 
out life.  Hence  the  male  has  the  larger  vocabulary, 
whereas  the  female  apparently  tends  to  make  better 
scholastic  grades.* 

As  was  pointed  out  in  Part  II,  there  is  a  wide  di- 
vergence in  the  results  supplied  by  various  investi- 
gators in  regard  to  total  size  of  vocabulary.  Where 
the  experiments  have  been  carefully  conducted  the 
results  show  more  uniformity  than  is  at  first  obvi- 
ous. Kirkpatrick(33)  and  Whipple  (59),  employ- 
ing similar  tests  and  basing  their  calculations  upon 
dictionaries  of  the  same  size,  obtain  closely  agreeing 
results.  Babbitt  (1),  using  a  dictionary  containing 
over  100,000  words,  finds  the  average  vocabulary 
of  college  sophomores  to  range  from  50,000  to  60,- 
000  words.  When  we  consider  that  the  dictionaries 
used  by  Kirkpatrick  and  Whipple  contained  less 
than  30,000  words  the  results  obtained  by  Babbitt 
are  no  higher  than  is  to  be  expected.  The  larger 
dictionary  contains,  in  addition  to  a  number  of  en- 
tirely different  words,  more  forms  of  the  same 
fundamental  words.  The  almost  inconceivably  large 
vocabulary  of  an  adult  is  due  largely  to  the  multi- 
plicity of  words  formed  from  the  same  root. 

In  using  a  still  larger  dictionary  than  was  used 
by  Babbitt  it  is  to  be  supposed  the  results  would  be 
considerably  higher.**  In  the  writer's  opinion,  the 
lowest  possible  estimation  based  upon  the  results  of 
the  tests  conducted  by  him  places  the  average  col- 
lege student's  vocabulary  at  85,000  words.  This  is 
doubtless  far  too  low,  as  the  figures  are  computed 

*A  somewhat  similar  explanation  is  given  for  the  apparent 
preponderance  in  vocabulary  size  of  the  Speyer  School  chil- 
dren over  those  of  other  schools.  Cf.  page  38. 

**  Later  data,  concerning  the  tests  conducted  at  Speyer 
School,  validates  the  above  statements  admirably.  Use  of  a 
larger  dictionary  almost  doubled  the  apparent  size  of  vo- 
cabulary of  grade  children  (10).  Cf.  page  38. 


78  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

* 

upon  the  basis  that  the  test  represents  only  250,000 
words,  whereas  the  dictionary,  exclusive  of  proper 
names,  contains  about  375,000.  It  seems  scarcely 
too  much  to  say  that,  at  the  time  of  graduation,  a 
college  student  should  be  in  command  of  100,000 
words,  the  estimation  having  for  its  basis  the  dic- 
tionary vocabulary,  exclusive  of  biographical  and 
geographical  terms.  In  addition  to  the  100,000 
words,  more  or  less,  which  constitute  the  individ- 
ual's vocabulary  as  estimated,  we  must  not  lose  sight 
of  the  fact  that  he  knows  countless  words  which  do 
not  appear  in  any  dictionary.  Thus  there  are  thou- 
sands of  familiar  biographical  and  geographical 
names.  The  writer  has  taken  no  consideration  of 
such  terms  in  forming  his  estimations,  for  the  rea- 
son that  he  believes  it  to  be  impossible  to  calculate 
with  even  vague  approximation  the  total  number  of 
biographical  and  geographical  words  known  to  an 
individual.  Biographical  and  geographical  terms 
making  for  general  intelligence  vary  for  different 
persons  and  in  different  localities.  Consider  the  im- 
mense number  of  purely  local  proper  names  known 
to  every  one  in  his  particular  locality  which,  for  that 
individual  and  that  locality,  are  an  indication  of 
general  intelligence.  Therefore,  to  the  100,000  word 
vocabulary  let  us  add  all  the  names  of  persons  and 
places  familiar  to  the  individual ;  let  us  also  add  the 
names  of  characters  of  books ;  names  of  personified 
objects,  as  ships  for  instance;  brands  of  goods; 
slang  expressions  and  colloquialisms;  and  a  host  of 
other  familiar  terms  which  are  not  to  be  found  in 
any  dictionary — and  the  result  is  an  indefinitely 
large,  truly  appalling,  vocabulary.  The  number  of 
words  which  an  intelligent  individual  has  at  his 
command  is  simply  terrific. 

Note :  It  might  be  well  here  to  suggest  that  perhaps  at  some 
future  date  statistics  may  be  available  to  show  the  rate  of 
vocabulary  increase  in  .terms  of  per  cent  from  year  to  year. 
Unquestionably  the  greatest  per  cent  of  increase  is  to  be 
found  in  the  earlier  years  of  a  child's  life.  The  average  child 
should  have  a  vocabulary  of  about  10  words  at  one  year  of 


CONCLUSIONS  79 

age.  During  tthe  second  year  this  number  should  be  in- 
creased to  450  or  500,  giving  an  increase  of  4500  to  5000  per 
cent.  The  per  cent  of  increase  during  the  third  year  appar- 
ently has  dropped  to  200  or  250.  Indications  lead  one  to  be- 
lieve that  during  the  fourth  year  the  per  cent  of  increase 
has  fallen  to  about  75.  The  actual  number  of  words  gained 
each  year,  however,  shows  a  distinct  increase  over  the  num- 
ber gained  during  the  previous  year.*  It  is  probable  that 
this  decrease  in  per  cent  of  gain  and  increase  in  actual  num- 
ber of  words  gained  continues  through  the  period  of  distinct 
mental  expansion  of  the  individual — that  is,  until  25  or  30 
years  of  age.  It  is  also  to  be  supposed  that  there  will  be  a 
decrease  in  acceleration  of  both  decrease  of  per  cent  of  gain 
and  increase  of  actual  numerical  gain  from  year  to  year. 
It  seems,  as  may  be  ascertained  from  the  tables  in  Part  III 
of  this  discussion,  that  the  per  cent  of  gain  from  year  to  year 
during  the  high  school  and  college  period  varies  from  5  to  10 ; 
while  the  actual  numerical  gain  yearly  is  probably  in  the 
neighborhood  of  three  to  five  thousand  words.  This  does  not 
mean  that  during  one  year  the  individual  will  actually  come 
into  contact  with  and  learn  from  three  to  five  thousand  new 
verbal  terms ;  it  means,  rather,  that  he  will  have  this  remark- 
ably large  gain  in  potentiality  and  not  in  actuality.  In  a 
great  many  cases  each  new  word  learned  carries  with  it  in 
potential  a  number  of  other  words  founded  upon  the  same 
root  or  symbol.  As  a  homely  example  let  us  take  the  term 
"health";  at  once  we  have  the  potentials  of  such  words  as: 
healthless,  healthlessness,  healthsome,  healthsomeness,  health- 
ward,  healthful,  healthfully,  healthfulness,  healthy,  healthily, 
healthiness,  unhealthy,  unhealthily,  unhealthiness,  unhealth- 
ful,  unhealthfully,  unhealthfulness,  etc.,  ad  nauseam.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  acquisition  of  a  new  prefix  or  suffix  will,  in 
general,  have  an  even  more  startling  effect  upon  the  size  of 
vocabulary. 

By  a  comparison  of  Table  XXIV  to  Table  VI  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  results  obtained  in  the  experi- 
ments at  Colorado  College  are  about  four  times  as 
great  as  those  obtained  by  Kirkpatrick  for  corre- 
sponding classes.  Though  Kirkpatrick's  results, 
show  a  very  uniform  increase  in  size  of  vocabulary 
from  the  second  grade  to  the  college,  his  figures  are 
doubtless  too  low.  A  rough  correction  might  be 
made  by  multiplying  by  four  the  figures  which  he 
presents  for  the  high  school,  normal  school,  and  col- 
lege. Corrections  for  the  vocabularies  of  the  grade 
pupils  should  perhaps  not  be  so  great,  though  what 

*Cf.  pages  26  to  28. 


80  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

this  correction  should  be  it  is  difficult  to  say  with- 
out more  complete  data. 

Note:  Several  months  after  the  above  was  written  an  arti- 
cle, already  referred  to,  (page  38),  which  describes  the 
results  of  tests  carried  on  at  Speyer  School  appeared  in 
School  and  Society  (10).  In  these  tests  the  use  of  a  44,000 
word  dictionary  indicated  an  average  vocabulary  of  27,918 
words  for  the  children  of  ,the  fifth,  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth 
grades.  Kirkpatrick's  average  for  the  same  grades  is  9,805. 
In  the  light  of  this  additional  data,  especially  when  it  is 
considered  that  the  Speyer  results  are  probably  too  low 
rather  than  too  high,  it  seems  only  reasonable  that  an  ap- 
proximate correction  for  the  vocabularies  of  grade  pupils  as 
determined  by  Kirkpatrick  could  be  obtained  by  multiplying 
his  figures  by  3  or  4. 

In  concluding  this  discussion  on  vocabularies  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  again  to  emphasize  the  impor- 
tant role  which  words  play  in  our  lives.  A  word 
may  aptly  be  called  an  incarnate  thought.  Without 
words  civilization  would  have  been  impossible.  The 
power  of  words  is  incalculable.  Their  influence  is 
illimitable.  Their  mysticism  is  entrancing. 

A  word  is  sufficient  to  lighten  the  burden  of  the 
weary,  to  uplift  the  depressed,  to  bring  joy  to  the 
sorrowing ;  a  word  may  blast  the  fondest  hopes,  and 
darken  the  brightest  life.  Words  of  love  increase 
life's  blessings,  and  words  of  hate  augment  life's 
curses.  Words  are  sufficient  to  express  the  pro- 
foundest  thoughts  of  the  philosopher,  or  the  sim- 
plest wants  of  the  little  child.  Words  convey  the 
sublimist  emotions  of  the  poet,  and  the  rudest  im- 
pulses of  the  swain.  A  word  may  soothe  the  tu- 
multuous mob  and  bring  peace  and  happiness  to  the 
populace.  A  word  may  plunge  nations — the  entire 
world — into  chaos.  Words  transport  us  from  the 
present  to  the  dimness  of  the  fading  ages  of  long 
ago,  or  whisk  us  in  an  instant  to  the  beautifully 
dreamy  times  that  are  to  be.  A  word  erases  the 
finite  and  replaces  it  with  the  Omnipotent. 


APPENDIX. 
LABORATORY  TEST  SHEET  A. 

In  this  list  each  word  is  followed  by  four  definitions,  of  which  ONE 
is  correct.  Check  the  correct  definition  of  the  words  familiar  to  you. 
For  every  one  incorrectly  marked  a  deduction  will  be  made  from  those 
correctly  marked. 


Aabec 

(a)  A  boat  used  by  the   natives  of 
the  Kongo  region. 

(b)  An    ape-like    animal    of    South 
America. 

<c)  An  Australian  medicinal  bark 
said  to  promote  perspiration. 

(d)  A  short  spear  used  by  the  Eski- 
mos. 

Absolute 

(a)  Not  solvent. 

(b)  To  acquit  or  pardon. 

•  (c)   Complete  in  itself. 
(d)  Not   present.  . 
Accidental 

(a)  Without   hesitation. 

(b)  Being    shortened. 

(c)  Refraining  from  excess, 
.(d)  Happening   by   chance. 
Actio 

(a)  The  action  of  radium  rays. 

(b)  A  public,  written  declaration. 

(c)  An  invoice   of   merchandise   for 
court   purposes. 

(d)  A  right  enforceable  by  law. 
Addressee 

«(a)   One  who  is   addressed. 

(b)  One  who   addresses  another. 

(c)  That    portion    of    a    name    and 
address    which    pertains     to    the 
person  alone. 

(d)  A  small  rat-like  animal  of  Aus- 
tralia. 

Adjust 

(a)  An   Italian   fisherman. 

(b)  Charge    on    oath. 

•  (c)  To  cause  to  fit. 
(d)  To    scrutinize. 
Adroit 

(a)  Dexterous. 

(b)  Awkward. 

(c)  A  fundamental  tone  into  which 
others  blend. 

(d)  Without    regard    to    rules    and 
regulations. 

Affect 

•(a)   Belongings. 

(b)  State  or  condition. 

(c)  Unseemly. 

(d\  One  who   pretends  or  feigns. 


Aft 

(a)  Always   remembered. 
(bX  A  spar  or  mast. 

(c)  Often. 

(d)  Apt   or   efficient. 
Agglomerant 

(a\  A  substance  causing  the  parti- 
cles of  a  mixture  to  form  lumps. 

(b)  A  person  with  defective  speech. 

(c)  Pungent. 

(d)  An  abbreviated  address. 
Ahead 

(a)  To  cut  off  the  head  of  anything 

(b)  The  second  of  a  series. 

(c)  To  outdistance. 
(d)»  At  the   head. 
Air 

(a)   Carbon  dioxide. 
(bV  The    atmosphere. 

(c)  A  small  shrub  found  in  Asia. 

(d)  A  weapon  used  by  aborigines. 
Air-tight 

(a)  Not  allowing  air  to  pass, 
(b).  Not  permeable  to  any  gas. 
(c)*  Air  charged  with  ammonium, 
(d)   Provided  with  a  cover. 
Alder 

(a)  A  fool. 

(b)  Older. 

(c)  Egg  sampler. 

(d)  Separation  of  whey  from  milk. 
All 

(a)  In  complete  or  highest  degree. 
(b)»  A    shoemaker's    instrument    for 

punching    small    holes. 

(c)  A    canoe    in    use   on    the    Great 
Lakes. 

(d)  To   produce   astonishment. 
Alternate 

(a^  One  chosen  to  act  in  the  place, 
of  another. 

(b)  A  colleague. 

(c)  To    provide    amusement. 

(d)  One  who  falsifies. 
Amalgamable 

(a)  That  which  may  be  likened  to 
another  thing. 

(b).  Capable  of  being  mixed  or  com- 
pounded. 

(c)  Loveable. 

(d)  Without  manifestation. 


82 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Americanism 

(a)  Any  animal  native  to  America. 

(b)  The  habits  or  customs  of  North 
American    Indians. 

(c)  The  fauna  of  the  Western  Hem- 
isphere. 

(d).  A    word    or    phrase    peculiar   to 

the  people  of  the   United  States. 
Amorrow 

(a)   Before    the    morrow. 
(bV  On  the   morrow. 

(c)  After    the    morrow. 

(d)  To  mortify. 
Analog 

(a)  A  compendium  of  words  and 
phrases. 

(b\  A  term  similar  to,  or  resem- 
bling. 

(c)  An    unlike   term. 

(d)  A    supplementary    list. 
Ancestral 

(a)  Having  to  do  with  a  later  type. 

(b)  Without  regard  to  precedent. 

(c)  Pertaining  to  an  earlier  type. 
(d>  Pertaining     to     blood     relation- 
ship. 

Anemometer 

(a)  One  who   speaks  profusely, 
.(b)   An    instrument    for    measuring 

the  force  or  velocity  of  wind. 

(c)  An    officer    sent   to    plead    com- 
promise. 

(d)  A  measure  of   liquid  pressure. 
Angler 

(a).  One  who  fishes  with  rod,  line, 
and  hook. 

(b)  One  who  pretends. 

(c)  The  steersman  of  a  scow. 

(d)  A  pitcher  of  curves. 
Anti 

(a)  A  descent. 

(b)  Before. 

(c)  A  bringer  of  ill  tidings. 

(d).  One    opposed    to    any    proposed 

or  enacted  policy. 
Antiparallel 
(a)   A    straight    line    and    a    curved 

line   side  by   side, 
(b),  A  perpendicular  line  or  surface 

connecting    two    parallel    lines    or 

surfaces. 

(c)  One    of    two    or    more    lines    or 
surfaces      making      equal      angles 
with    two    others,    taken    in    con- 
trary order. 

(d)  The  projection  of  a  curved  sur- 
face upon  a  plane  surface. 

Anxious 

(a)   Extremely  joyful, 
(b),  Subject    to    painful    or    disturb- 
ing   suspense. 

(c)  Without    forethought. 

(d)  In  a  provoking  manner. 


Apices 

(a)  A    form   of    Greek    architecture, 
(b).  Plural   of  apex. 

(c)  A  small  temple. 

(d)  A  species  of  finch. 
Apprehensive 

(a)  Thoughtful. 

(b)  Pertaining    to    laziness. 

(c)  Anticipative  of  evil. 

(d).  Capable  of  understanding. 
Aqueous 

(a)  Compounded  with  acid, 
(b),  Watery. 

(c)  Aiiy. 

(d)  Having  to  do  with  the  brain. 
Architecture 

(a).  The  art  of  designing  and  con- 
structing buildings. 

(b)  One     who     plans     and     designs 
buildings. 

(c)  A    landscape   gardener. 

(d)  Having  a   beautiful   contour. 
Areach 

(a),  Coupling   of   a   wagon. 

(b)  Noise    made    by    a    double    reed 
whistle. 

(c)  To    jump. 

(d)  Extend. 
Arm 

(a)  To  provide  with  food. 

(b)  A   small   animal   similar  to  the 
lemur. 

(c)  A  tendency  to  swoon, 
(d),  Any  weapon. 
Arrant 

(a)  Victorious. 

(b)  Notoriously  bad. 

(c)  One    who   pilfers. 

(d)  Playing  the  part  of  a  dandy. 
Artful 

(a),  Characterized  by   cunning. 

(b)  Beautiful  or  shapely. 

(c)  Having    a    desire    to    paint    or 
sketch. 

(d)  Quick  of  movement. 
Associate 

(a)  A  kind  of  iron  ore. 

(b)  Having   a   metallic   lustre. 

(c)  Pertaining   to   sedition, 
(d),  United. 

Atom 

(a)  A   contraction   of   "At  Home." 
(b)»  One  of  the   hypothetical   indivi- 
sible parts  of  which  all  matter  is 
supposed  to  be  formed. 

(c)  A  small  camera. 

(d)  A   primitive    cell. 
Attorney-general 

(a).  The  chief  law  officer  of  a  gov- 
ernment. 

(b)  The  officer   second   in  command 
of  an   army. 

(c)  The   attorney    for   a    general    in 
a  law  suit. 

(d)  A   judge  of  the   supreme   court. 


APPENDIX 


Augury 

(a)  The  process  of  boring  holes. 

(b)  Intensification. 

(c).  The  art  of  foretelling  by  signs 
or  omens. 

(d)  Having  to  do  with  the  ear. 
Authorized 

(a).  Formally  sancitioned. 

(b)  Composed   by  an   author  of  re- 
pute. 

(c)  Prohibited    or    prevented    from 
action. 

(d)  Written    with    accuracy. 

Ave 

(a)  Evening. 

(b)  State  of  being  tired. 
(c)>  Sweet  or  gentle. 

(d)  A   word  of   salutation. 
Avow 

(a)  To  use  profanity. 

(b)  An     evergreen     tree    found     in 
central    America. 

(c)v  To   promise, 
(d)   To  nullify. 

Backwoods 

(a)  A  species  of  oak. 
(b)»  Any  rural  and  uncultivated  re- 
gion. 

(c)  Fallow  land  lying  beside  a  for- 
est. 

(d)  The  inner  portion  of  a  forest. 
Bailee 

(a)  A  dipper  used  for  dipping  wa- 
ter from   a  boat. 

(b)  A   Hawaiian    land- toboggan. 

(c).  One  who  receives  certain  per- 
sonal property  in  trust  to  per- 
form some  act  in  respect  to  it. 

(d)  A  species  of  salt-water  tortoise 

found  in  southern  waters. 
Bale 

!a)  To  dip  water  from  a  boat, 
b)  That  which  causes  ruin  or  sor- 
row. 

(c)  Security   given   in  order  that  a 
person  may  be  set  free. 

(d)  A  decision. 
Balsamous 

(a>  Having  the  qualities  of  balsam. 

(b)  A  kind  of  petrified  wood  found 
in     certain     sections       of     North 
America. 

(c)  Gentle   and  soothing. 

(d)  Said  of  lumber  of  a  loose  tex- 
ture. 

Bar 

(a)  An    honest   fellow. 

(b)  A  C.  G.  S.  unit  of  atmospheric 
pressure. 

(c)  Bread  made  by  fermentation. 

(d)  A    punch    for    making    four    or 
more  holes  in  paper. 


Bargained 

(a)  Borrowed. 

(b)  Sold  at  below  cost. 
(c)»  Negotiated. 

(d)   Brought  on  a  barge. 

Baronetage 

(a)  The  income  derived  by  a  baron 

from   his  lands  and  vassals. 
(b)«The  rank  or  state  of  a  baronet. 

(c)  A    long    reed     musical    instru- 
ment with  seven  keys. 

(d)  A  crown  of  the  same  height  all 
around. 

Baseball 

(a)  A  black  ball. 

(b)  An  evil  fellow. 

(c)  A  marker  used  to  show  the  des- 
tination for  a  foot  race. 

(d)»  A  game  played  with  bat  and 
ball,  named  from  the  four  bases 
which  mark  the  course  each  run- 
ner must  take. 

Bassoon 

(a)  A    stick    fashioned   for   the   use 
of  police. 

(b)  A  wooden  reed-instrument  with 
curved  mouth-piece. 

(c)  The    lowest    line    on    a    musical 
staff. 

(d)  To  fasten  by  means  of  brads. 
Battening 

(a)  The  putting  on  of  scantlings. 

(b)  Damming    a    river    by    building 
from  both   sides  toward  the  cen- 
ter. 

(c)  To  strike  a  ball  with  a  bat. 

(d)  Acting  foolishly,   like  a  bat. 
Baubling 

(a)v  Paltry. 

(b>  Dreamily   speaking. 

(c)  Disconnected  discourse. 

(d)  Sounds  like  those  coming  from 
hollow  vessels. 

Bear 

(a)  To  hide  in  a  snow  drift. 

(b)  To  uncover. 

(c)  A  dust  explosion. 

(d)  To  force  down  the  price  of. 
Beechen 

(a)  To  turn  white  by  exposure. 

(b)  A  small  deformed  bee. 

(c).  Pertaining  to  the  beech-tree, 
(d)   Whining  like  a  dog. 
Beholden 

(a)  Contained  in  a  measure. 

(b)  To   keep   an  object  that   is   not 
prized. 

(c)  Held  under  obligation. 

(d)  Trumpery. 
Bellmouth 

(a)»  A  large  South  American  moth. 

(b)  Hilarious. 

(c)  To  shape  at  the  mouth  or  muz- 
zle like  a  bell. 

(d)  Lucky   coin. 


84 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Benefice 

(a)   Soft    mush-ice. 
(b)»An  ecclesiastical   living  or  pre- 
ferment. 

(c)  A  cheerful  face. 

(d)  A  weight  to  help  lower  a  diver. 
Bereave 

(a)  To  deprive. 

(b)  To  bind  with  hoops. 

(c)  A  brace  in  cast  iron. 

(d)  Short   of   breath. 
Best 

(a)  Mold    in    which    brass    castings 
are  made. 

(b)  A  polishing  brush. 

(c)  Fine     sand     to     pack     in     with 
course   gravel. 

(d)»  The  most  excellent  thing. 
Billing 

(a)  Two  pendulums  swinging  in  un- 
ison. 

(b)  Cording  pig  iron   in   sacks. 

(c)  Putting  weights  in  order. 
(d)u  The  act  of  making  out  a  bill. 
Black 

(a)%  Having  little  or  no  power  to 
reflect  light. 

(b)  A   sinner. 

(c)  Chimney   choking   with   smoke. 

(d)  Over-indulgence. 
Blame 

(a)  Short  arm  on  a  mast. 

(b)  Indigestible  food. 

(c)  Support  for  a  stone. 
(d)»  The  act  of  censuring. 
Blemished 

(a)*  Censured. 

(b)  Rough  surfacing  of  a  file. 

(c)  Cut  off   abruptly. 

(d)  A   hopeless  saint. 
Block 

(a)  Fulcrum  end  of  a  lever. 

(b)  A  dull  feeling  over  the  eyes. 
(c),  That     which     hinders     or     ob- 
structs. 

(d)  A  sign  in  musical  composition. 
Blubber 

(a)  A    boy     with     large    eyes     and 
small  mouth. 

(b)  Broad    band    running    half-way 
around  a  coat. 

(c)  Strong. 

(d\  The  layer  of  oil-yielding  fat  be- 
neath the  skin  in  cetaceans. 

Bolt 

(a),  A  nearly  horizontal  cylinder 
covered  with  silk  or  other  fabric 
for  separating  the  flour  of  wheat 
from  the  hull  or  bran. 

(b)  The  large  end  of  a  pear. 

(c)  The  largest  man  in  a  crowd. 

(d)  Husks    of    nuts,    fruits,    grain, 
etc. 


Bone-cartilage 

(a)  Old  bones  that  are  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  fertilizers. 

(b)  Cars  used  for  hauling  refuse. 

(c)  A     paste     made     from     animal 
glue. 

(d)i.The  gelatinous  matrix  left  af- 
ter dissolving  out  the  calcium  salt 
of  bone  with  dilute  acid. 

Brachia 

(a)  Upper  part  of   wind-pipe. 

(b)  The  weight  on  a  pile  driver. 

(c)  Processes  resembling   arms, 
(d)^  Gases     arising     from     stagnant 

water. 
Bran 
(a),  Marking  with  a  hot  iron. 

(b)  To  borrow. 

(c)  To   reduce   to    scrap. 

(d)  The  crow. 
Breacher 

(a)   A  breaker. 

(b)f  The  hip  part  of  a  horse's  har- 
ness. 

(c)  A   cheap  detective. 

(d)  The    large    rope    with    which    a 
vessel  is  tied. 

Breathable 

(a)  A  board  on  which  bread  is  dis- 
played. 
(b)»Fit  to  breathe. 

(c)  A  husky  sound  or  voice. 

(d)  Broad-minded    religiously. 
Bridgewater 

(a)  Water  lying  under  a  bridge. 

(b)  A   broadcoth   once   manufactur- 
ed at  Bridgewater,  England. 

(c)  Tears    shed    at    the    loss    of    a 
game  of  cards. 

(d)  A    beverage    made    of    oatmeal 
and  water. 

Brood 

(a)  Blood-clot. 

(b)  Hard-baked  stale  bread. 


(c).  Having   young, 
(d) 


A  course  heavy  cloth. 
Brush 

(a)  Twelve    logs    fastened    together 
in  a  raft. 

(b)  The  front  seat  in  an  open  boat. 
(c)i  To  touch  with  a  light  stroking 

movement. 

(d)  To  argue  vehemently. 
Buckish. 

(a)  A  rapid  muscular  activity. 
(b)u  Delightful. 

(c)  A   sharp,   acrid  taste. 

(d)  Foppish. 
Build 

(a)  Form   of   construction. 

(b)  A  picture. 

(c)  A  broad  substantial  foundation. 

(d)  A  very  narrow  waist  or  corset. 


APPENDIX 


85 


Burden 

(a)  A  poisonous  berry. 

(b)  Something     often     repeated     or 
dwelt   upon. 

(c)  The  metal   part   of  a   loose-leaf 
binder. 

(d)  The   last   hard   piece  of  leather 
on  a  shoe  heel. 

Burro 

(a),  A   very    small   donkey. 

(b)  The  covering  of  a  chestnut. 

(c)  Lumps  of  rust  on  old  iron. 

(d)  A    rough,    stony    path. 
Bust 

(a)»  The  human  chest  or  breast. 

(b)  Soiled    with    clay. 

(c)  The  pithy  center  of  corn  cobs. 

(d)  The    metal     binders    on    smok- 
ing-pipes. 

Butler 

(a)   A   designer  of  buttons. 
(b\  A  man  servant  who  has  charge 
of   the   dining-room,    etc. 

(c)  An  expert  bell  founder. 

(d)  A   device   for   drawing   liquors 
from    casks   into   bottles. 

By 

(a)  To   purchase. 

(b).  Near. 

(c)  Sleepiness. 

(d)  A   Japanese   sweetheart. 
Cable 

(a)  To  insult   by   laughing. 

(b)  Profuse  flow  of  saliva. 
(c).To     send     by     submarine     tele- 
graph. 

(d)   A  nervous  twitching  of  the  lips. 
Calf 

(a)  »The  rounded  prominence  of  the 
hinder  part  of  the  human  leg,  be- 
low  the  knee. 

(b)  The  crying  of  a  large  boy. 

(c)  To    tease. 

(d)  The    supporting    timbers    of    a 
dormer-window. 

Canage 

(a)   This     age     in     which     so     much 

canned   goods  is   eaten. 
(b)vA     factory     in     which     canned 

goods   are   made. 

(c)  A  bloody  encounter. 

(d)  Rent  in  kind. 
Canopy 

(a)  An  overhanging  screen  or  shel- 
ter. 

(b)  A  seat  on  which  two  can  sit. 

(c)  A   pale   pink   precious   stone. 

(d)  A  very  soft,  yet  durable,  tin. 
Cartilage 

(a)  Gristle. 

(b)  A  packing  material  made  from 
the   fibers  of  banana   stalks. 

(c)  Constant   good    nature. 

(d)  The  act  of  snubbing. 


Cast-iron 

(a)  A   metallic   boat. 

(b)  Brittle. 

(c)  Scroll  forms  for  rock  chiseling. 

(d)  Made  of  cast  iron. 
Categorical 

(a)  A   howling   noise. 

(b)  An   absolute   proposition. 

(c)  Fictitious. 

(d)  A  proposition  to  be  proven. 
Cathead 

(a)  To  open  a  wound  by  means  of  a 
rubber  tube. 

(b)  Excessive  secretion  by  the  kid- 
neys. 

(c)  A  large  round  spotted  bean. 

(d)  To  make  fast  to  the  capstan. 
Cavil 

(a)  To  find  fault  with  captiously. 

(b)  To  ring  by  means  of  a  hammer. 

(c)  Heavy  breathing. 

(d)  The  small  sharp  lip  on  an  au- 
ger. 

Cella 

(a)  A   cavity. 

(b)  A  musical  stringed  instrument. 

(c)  A  small  dish  for  spices. 

(d)  A    machine    for    forming    chair 
seats. 

Center 

(a)  A  mythological   animal   covered 
with   feathers. 

(b)  A   gift   booklet. 

(c)  A    needle   for    making    holes    in 
wax. 

(d)  The  middle. 
Certification 

(a)  Distinction. 

(b)  Notification. 

(c)  Arranging  according  to  class. 

(d)  Amelioration. 
Chain 

(a)  To  tug  fiercely. 

(b)  A  succession  of  events. 

(c)  A  variegated   Indian  blanket. 

(d)  A    string    of    interlinked    rings 
or  links. 

Chameleon 

(a)  To  provide  with  fruit  in  season. 

(b)  A  poisonous  mushroom. 

(c)  A    family    of    limicoline    birds, 
including  plovers. 

(d)  An    American    anolidid   or    igu- 
anid  that  has  the  power  of  chang- 
ing its  colors. 

Charge-sheet 

(a)  Daily    register    of    charges    and 
arrests  against  prisoners. 

(b)  A  monthly  bill,  or  dun. 

(c)  In    an    account   book,    a    specifi- 
cation of   merchandise  bought  on 
credit. 

(d)  In   printing,   a   corrected  proof- 
sheet. 


86 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Chaste 

(a)  The  indentation   at  the  butt  of 
a  knife  blade. 

(b)  To  punish. 

(c)  Virtuous. 

(d)  A    small    owl    found    in    Porto 
Rico. 

Chiasm 

(a)  An   abyss. 

(b)  A    decussating    or    X-like    com- 
missure. 

(c)  A    nervous    disease    characteriz- 
ed  by   violent  trembling. 

(d)  An  antelope  found  in  Asia. 
Chimerize 

(a)  To  make  horrible. 

(b)  To  clothe  a  new-born  babe. 

(c)  Use   discretion   in   judgment. 

(d)  Entertain    absurd    fancies. 
Chirpling 

(a)  An    ornamental    carving    on    a 
dresser. 

(b)  A  U-shaped  moulding. 

(c)  A  little  chirper. 

(d)  Producing      a      succession       of 
sharp,    quick   sounds. 

Chromosphere 

(a)  A    lens    made    of    glass    which 
contains  chromium. 

(b)  A    relatively    thin    layer   of    in- 
candescent   red    gas    surrounding 
the  sun. 

(c)  An  instrument  for  determining 
relative  humidity. 

(d)  A   glass   globe   used  by   spiritu- 
alists  in   their   profession. 

Chuck 

(a)  A  river  fish,  similar  to  the  sal- 
mon. 

(b)  A   sub-order  of   ctenoidians. 

(c)  A  short  sudden  noise. 

(d)  Brittle. 
Church 

(a)  To  preach. 

(b)  A   building   dedicated   to    Chris- 
tian   worship. 

(c)  A  plow  equipped  with  a  colter. 

(d)  To  give  alms. 
Circumcision 

(a)  Spiritual    purification. 

(b)  Encircling. 

(c)  A  wave  of  the  voice  embracing 
both    a    rise    and    a    fall    on    the 
same  syllable. 

(d)  Act  of  undulating. 
Citrous 

(a)  Having  a  yellow  color. 

(b)  Having  the  qualities  of  citrine. 

(c)  Pertaining   to   citrus. 

(d)  Possessing  acridity. 
Clip 

(a)  To   name. 

(b)  A  dandified  young  man. 

(c)  An   appliance  that  grips. 

(d)  A   canter. 


Coak 

(a)  Word  used  to  call   horses. 

(b)  An   oxide   of   iron. 

(c)  A  coal  from  which  the  volatile 
constitutents   have   been   removed. 

(d)  A  fossil  sea  shell. 
Cobby 

(a)  Headstrong. 

(b)  A  cab-driver. 

(c)  Spick  and  span. 

(d)  Pilot  of  a  barge. 
Cochineal 

(a)  A   protoxide   of   barium. 

(b)  A    dyestuff    made    from    certain 
insects. 

(c)  In  Great  Britain,  a  second  king 
at  arms. 

(d)  A  Bohemian  folk-dance. 
Code 

(a)  To  make  flattering  remarks. 

(b)  In    music,   the   close   of   a   com- 
position. 

(c)  A   nuciferous  tree  of   the  West 
Indies. 

(d)  Shoemakers'   wax. 
Cogger 

(a)  A    clevis. 

(b)  One   who   makes   gear-cogs. 

(c)  A   rustic,   or  miserly   man. 

(d)  One  who   shirks  his  duty. 
Coin 

(a)  A   gift. 

(b)  A  supercilious  youngster. 

(c)  An  inventor  of  words. 

(d)  A   piece   of  metal    or   alloy    for 
use  as  money. 

Colorable 

(a)  That  which  may  be  colored. 

(b)  To  be  regretted. 

(c)  A    genus    typical    of    a    certain 
family  of  crinoids. 

(d)  Pertaining  to  an  unruly  mob. 
Compart 

(a)  Studded  with  nails. 

(b)  Condensed. 

(c)  Partition. 

(d)  The  forecastle  of  a  vessel. 
Compelled 

(a)  Hindered. 

(b)  Shaped    like    a    fresh-water   eel. 

(c)  Involuntary. 

(d)  Foppish. 
Compositor 

(a)  More   compact. 

(b)  One    who    instructs. 

(c)  One  who  or  that  which  angers 
another. 

(d)  One  who  sets  type. 
Conception 

(a)  A      literary      style      overloaded 
with   double  meanings. 

(b)  Apprehension    of    anything    by 
the  mind. 

(c)  Capable  of   perception. 

(d)  An  analogous  term. 


APPENDIX 


87 


Conferential 

(a)  Private,   or   trusting. 

(b)  Pertaining     to     a     meeting     for 
deliberation. 

(c)  Having   great   influence. 

(d)  A  form  of  sonnet  used  by  early 
writers. 

Congratulation 

(a)  Punishment    unjustly    inflicted. 

(b)  A   resemblance. 

(c)  Being  confined  to  certain  limits 

(d)  Complimentary      expression      of 
sympathetic   satisfaction. 

Connivent 

(a)  Diverging. 

(b)  Converging  or  coming  into  con- 
tact. 

(c)  Part    of    a    circumference. 

(d)  A  circle  in  juxtaposition  to  two 
parallel    lines. 

Consist 

(a)  To    withhold. 

(b)  To  be   composed  or   constituted. 

(c)  To  continue  firmly  or  steadily  in 
any   course   undertaken. 

(d)  Part  of  a  ship's  mast. 
Constriction 

(a)  Perambulation. 

(b)  Deprivation. 

(c)  Act  of  checking. 

(d)  Local  or  transverse  contraction 
Continental 

(a)  Characteristic  of  a  continent. 

(b)  Local. 

(c)  By  force  of  habit. 

(d)  A   variety  of  iron   pyrites. 
Contralto 

(a)  Second    bass. 

(b)  A    market-place. 

(c)  Pertaining  to  a  part  between  al- 
to and   soprano. 

(d)  Pertaining    to    the    lowest    part 
for  the  female  voice. 

Contribution 

(a)  Act  of  dabbling  in  water. 

(b)  A  plain-song. 

(c)  State  of  being  varied  by  modu- 
lation. 

(d)  The    act    of   givmt    for    a    com 
mon    purpose. 

Conviction 

(a)  Complaint. 

(b)  The  embryo  of  a   plant. 

(c)  Annullification. 

(d)  The  state  of  being  convinced. 
Corn 

(a)  The  seeds  of  cereal  plants  used 
for    food,    as    maize,    barley,    rye. 
wheat,    and   oats. 

(b)  Plash. 

(c)  A   tree   of   the    family   Vochysi- 
aceae. 

<d)   A    sore   toe. 


Corosif 

(a)  A  species  of  sea- weed. 

(b)  Talkative. 

(c)  Having  the  power  of  corroding. 

(d)  A  tree  bearing  small,  poisonous 
fruit. 

Countenance 

(a)  Approve. 

(b)  To   frustrate. 

(c)  To  unite. 

(b)   The    quality    of    a    thing    which 

makes  it  possible  to  be  believed. 
Coupled 

(a)  Separated. 

(b)  Abbreviated. 

(c)  Versified. 

(d)  Conjoined. 
Cow 

(a)  To   cause  to   be   afraid. 

(b)  A  courtier. 

(c)  To  uplift. 

(d)  To    provide     shelter     for     wild 
deer. 

Crank 

(a)  A  decollette  gown. 

(b)  A  cog-wheel. 

(c)  Possessing   stability. 

(d)  Unsteady. 
Creditability 

(a)  The    state    or    quality    of    being 
praiseworthy. 

(b)  An    instrument    for    measuring 
the  intensity  of  colored   light. 

(d)   Utilitarian. 

(d)   Disqualification. 

Crib 

(a)  To  be  clever. 

(b)  The  entrance  to  a  Chinese  tem- 
ple. 

(c)  A   course  sieve. 

(d)  An    angler's    basket. 
Croche 

(a)  A  joining  together. 

(b)  A   knob   at   the   top   of  a   deer's 
antler. 

(c)  Galena. 

(d)  To  shoot  with  accuracy. 
Cross 

(a)  Over   or  through. 

(b)  Tranquil. 

(c)  To   stutter. 

(d)  A  bouquet  of  violets. 
Cruciferous 

(a)  Fond  of  nuts. 

(b)  Bearing  a  cross. 

(c)  Having  a  long  and  thin  neck. 

(d)  Having  the   qualities  of   molten 
metal. 

Crystalliform 

(a)  A  variety  of  copper  ore. 

(b)  Allotropic. 

(c)  A   sand-lily. 

(d)  Having    a    crystalline    form. 


88 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Cupboard 

(a)  A   safe  equipped  with  a   combi- 
nation lock. 

(b)  A  kind  of  sword  used  in  medi- 
eval times. 

(c)  To    hoard   in   or    gather   into    a 
larder. 

(d)  To   glaze   pottery. 
Current 

(a)  Having    the    quality    of    rough- 
ness. 

(b)  A    continous    movement    in    the 
same   direction. 

(c)  The  fruit  of  a  well-known  shrub 
much  used  for  jelly. 

(d)  Pertaining  to  the  past. 
Customance 

(a)  The  office  or  offices  where  du- 
ties are  collected. 

(b)  Habit. 

(c)  Any  performance. 

(d)  To  permit. 
Da    capo 

(a)  From  the  beginning. 

(b)  To    the    end. 

(c)  Out 'of  sight. 

(d)  Without  the  head. 
Daub 

(a)  A   shrub  of  the  genus  Ribes. 

(b)  To  utter  a  wish  of  evil  against 
one. 

(c)  Besmear. 

(d)  The  common  wren. 
Debate 

(a)  A   shrimp. 

(b)  To  dissuade  from  a  set  purpose. 

(c)  Good  news. 

(d)  Argumentation  for  and  against. 
Decagon 

(a)  A  brewing  vat. 

(b)  A  figure  with  ten  sides  and  ten 
angles. 

(c)  A   figure   with   many    sides   and 
many  angles. 

(d)  An    isosceles   triangle   in    juxta- 
position to  a  square. 

Declare 

(a)  A  monocle. 

(b)  To   make   known. 

(c)  Denunciation. 

(d)  A  certification  as  to  value. 
Deeducational 

(a)  Pertaining     to     education     for 
both  sexes. 

(b)  Denial  of  knowledge. 

(c)  Pertaining     to     a     removal    or 
taking  from. 

(d)  That  which  tends   to   hinder   or 
nullify  the  work  of  education. 

Deformation 

(a)  Change  of  form. 

(b)  The  act  of  condemning. 

(c)  Malevolent    accusation. 

(d)  Purification. 


Deleble 

(a)  Capable   of   being    erased. 

(b)  That  which  may  be  eaten. 

(c)  Pleasing    to    the    taste. 

(d)  A  Hawaiian   surf-boat. 

Demagogic 

(a)  Having    narrow   and   set   religi- 
ous opinions. 

(b)  Given   to    unprincipled   political 
agitation. 

(c)  Pertaining  to  teaching. 

(d)  Absolute  in  power. 

Despite 

(a)  Short  or  transient. 

(b)  To  show  contempt  for. 

(c)  To  remove  all  traces  of  hatred. 

(d)  Determined. 

Desulphurize 

(a)  To    compound   with   sulphur. 

(b)  Give  off   fumes. 

(c)  To  free  from  sulphur. 

(d)  Denounce  with  vehemence. 

Diamond 

(a)  A   circle. 

(b)  To  mine  coal. 

(c)  False  testimony. 

(d)  A   mineral   consisting   essential- 
ly of  carbon  crytallized  in  the  is- 
ometric system. 

Dibasic 

(a)  Containing  two  bases. 

(b)  Containing    two    atoms    of    hy- 
drogen  replaceable   by   a   base  or 
basic  radical. 

(c)  Pertaining   to   the   terminals   of 
an  electric  battery. 

(d)  Pretentiousness. 

Die 

(a)  A  device  for  cutting  hay  in  the 
stack    or   barn. 

(b)  A  small  sunfish. 

(c)  To   show   partiality. 

(d)  To  mold  or  form   with   a  metal 
former  or  device  for  shaping. 

Dimmish 

(a)  To  shut  out  of  sight. 

(b)  To  reduce  in  any  way. 

(c)  Ranking   high  in  estimation. 

(d)  To  till  the  soil. 

Directness 

(a)  Straightness. 

(b)  Eligibility. 

(c)  Dampness. 

(d)  A  hyperbola. 
Discarnate 

(a)  In  the  flesh. 

(b)  To    remove    temptations. 

(c)  Not  having  a  physical  body. 

(d)  A    hook    by    means   of    which    a 
kettle    is    hung    in    an    open    fire- 
place. 


APPENDIX 


89 


Disclamation 

(a)  An  interjection. 

(b)  To  mismatch. 

(c)  A   disavowal. 

(d)  A  speech  made  in  public. 
Diseased 

(a)  Pertaining  to  phrenology. 

(b)  A  corpse. 

(c)  Unhealthy. 

(d)  Led  into  error,  or  cheated. 
Dismayed 

(a)  Filled  with  consternation. 

(b)  That  which  has  been  establish- 
ed  by    precedent. 

(c)  Having   an   eager   desire. 

(d)  Ingenuousness. 
Distinctive 

(a)  Relating   to   power. 

(b)  Distinguishing. 

(c)  A   lobster-salad. 

(d)  Having  been  extinguished. 
Diversiflorous 

(a)  Said    of    a    land    having    varied 
vegetation. 

(b)  Having  flowers  of  two  or  more 
kinds. 

(c)  Motley. 

(d)  To  row. 
Dock 

(a)  To  move  in  a  short,  jerky  man- 
ner. 

(b)  In    chemistry,    any    radical    of 
double  valency. 

(c)  An  increase  in  wages. 

(d)  An   animal's  tail    cut   short,   or 
bobbed. 

Dolphinet 

(a)  A  female  dolphin. 

(b)  A  colonial   dance. 

(c)  A   musical   instrument  made  of 
reeds. 

(d)  A  Russian  folk-dance. 
Double 

(a)  A   commoigne. 

(b)  A   beautiful    garden   of   roses. 

(c)  To  add  two. 

(d)  Something      that    is    twice    as 
much. 

Downward 

(a)  On   an   elevated  plan*. 

(b)  From  a  higher  to  a  lower  level. 

(c)  A  journey. 

(d)  To  conceal  one's  identity. 
Dressmaker 

(a)  A  stringed  instrument  of  music 

(b)  A  person  who  makes  dresses. 

(c)  In    music,    an    interval    compre- 
hending  two  tones. 

(d)  To  disregard. 
Drone 

(a)  The   male   of   the   honey-bee   or 
other  bee. 

(b)  A  number  of  beetles  taken  col- 
lectively. 

(c)  A  covetous,  sordid  man. 

(d)  A   pickpocket. 


Dry 

(a)  A  state  or  condition  of  lacking 
moisture. 

(b)  Indivisibility. 

(c)  Thorough    introspection. 

(d)  Forward,  in  succession. 
Dunness 

(a)  Swarthy  coloring. 

(b)  State      or     quality     of      being 
bright. 

(c)  Wife  of  a  duke's  butler. 

(d)  Corruption. 
Dyspepsia 

(a)  A     substance    secreted    by    the 
stomach  of  animals. 

(b)  A  kind  of  chewing  gum. 

(c)  Difficult   and  painful   digestion. 

(d)  Defective  eyesight. 
Ear 

(a)  Insectivorous. 

(b)  The  fruit-bearing  part  of  a  cer- 
ereal    plant. 

(c)  The    hard,    fleshy    part    of    the 
jaws  which  invests  the  teeth. 

(d)  Many-lobed,    as    the    liver   of    a 
cat. 

Earth 

(a)  To  discover  anything  concealed. 

(b)  A  discourse  on  the  skin  and  its 
diseases. 

(c)  A   plowing. 

(d)  A  vessel  made  of  clay. 
Eccentric 

(a)  A  species  of  terrestrial  orchids 
found  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

(b)  An  invalid. 

(c)  A  person  of  peculiar  habits. 

(d)  One     who     lives     for     himself 
alone. 

Educated 

(a)  Instructed. 

(b)  Ignorant. 

(c)  Ridiculous. 

(d)  Descriptive. 
Electricize 

(a)   To  measure  degree  or  intensity 

of  heat  by  means  of  electricity. 
•  (b)  Positive,   as   distinguished   from 
negative,  electricity. 

(c)  To  measure  the  quantity  or  in- 
tensity  of   electricity. 

(d)  To  electrify. 
Element 

(a)  A   component,    fundamental,   or 
essential   part. 

(b)  Worthy   to   be   chosen. 

(c)  Humane. 

(d)  An  evergreen  tree  bearing  edi- 
ble fruit. 

Elk 

(a)  A   garden   tool. 

(b)  A   climbing  plant,   a  species  of 
clematis. 

(c)  A   very   large   deer  of  northern 
forests. 

(d)  To  imitate. 


90 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Embrace 

(a)  Stupid. 

(b)  A  species  of  narcissus. 

(c)  A  clasping  in  the  arms. 

(d)  A  pale  red  color  with  a  cast  of 
orange. 

Enclad 

(a)  A   system   of   notation   based  on 
12. 

(b)  Jangled. 

(c)  Clothed. 

(d)  The   rough   surface   on   the  out- 
side of  sea-shells. 

Engineered 

(a)  Drawn  out  by  means  of  a   rig- 
id examination. 

(b)  Managed    skillfully    or    superin- 
tended. 

(c)  A  thin  wooden  covering  to  hide 
rough   metal    work. 

(d)  Excitement    allayed    by    divert- 
ing the   mind. 

Enough 

(a)  A    fine    powder    used    for    snuf- 
fing. 

(b)  A   coarse   purple  moss   growing 
on  sandy  soil. 

<c)   Sufficiency. 

(d)  A   constant  desire. 

Entity 

(a)  The  end. 

(b)  Mere  being. 

(c)  Something  that  does   not   recur. 

(d)  A   strong   appetite. 
Equational 

(a)  At  or  near  the  equator. 

(b)  A   jelly-like  consistency. 

(c)  Easily   broken   or   mashed. 

(d)  Implying   the   use  of  equations. 
Err 

(a)  One  who  has  general  charge  of 
the  king's  servants. 

(b)  The  end  of  the  lifting  plane  of 
a  flying  machine. 

(c)  The    sound    of    a    mosquito    in 
flight. 

(d)  To  be  incorrect. 
Estately 

(a)  Any  food  with  a  high  flavor. 

(b)  Having  a  grand  and  impressive 
appearance. 

•(c)  A   park    arranged    in   geometric 

figures, 
(d)  A   case  in   which   a  compass   is 

kept. 

Ethize 

(a)   To    throw    liquids    into    a    fine 

spray, 
'(b)   Food  made  by  mixing  the  flesh 

of  different  fish. 

'(c)  To  throw  away  worthless  goods. 
<(d)  To  establish  morals  or  customs 

among. 


Every-day 

(a)  Uncommon. 

(b)  Exciting. 

(c)  A   cheap   cloth   of  close  texture. 

(d)  Common. 

Executioner 

(a)  One  who  executes. 

(b)  A  versatile  actor. 

(c)  A    gallows. 

(d)  A   Persian   measure   for   liquids. 

Expiatory 

(a)  A  house  in  which  bee-hives  are 
kept. 

(b)  To   rid  of  poison. 

(c)  A   writing  giving  away   a  fath- 
er's   rights. 

(d)  Having     the     character     of     an 
atonement. 

Extrinsic 

(a)  An    acrid,    puckering    quality. 

(b)  Not    inherent   or   included   in    a 
thing. 

(c)  A  drug  used  externally  only. 

(d)  A  word  in  which  the   sound  of 
s   is    prominent. 

Fabler 

(a)  A  kitchen  utensil  used  for  stir- 
ring. 

(b)  An  inventor  or  teller  of  fables. 

(c)  A   farmer   who    has    no    scienti- 
fic   training. 

(d)  Wood  that  splits  easily. 

Fag 

(a)  An  old  broken  down  horse. 

(b)  The  back   log  in  a  fire  place. 

(c)  The  odor  of  musk. 

(d)  A  blemish   in  a  piece  of  woven 
goods. 

Fall 

(a)  To     descend     by     the     force     of 
gravity. 

(b)  The    outside    wooden    rim    of    a 
wheel. 

(c)  To    bind    cloth    by    turning    the 
edge   and   sewing. 

(d)  A    steel    trap    that    is    fastened 
to  a  tree. 

Fanciless 

(a)  A  jelly  without  flavor. 

(b)  Uniform. 

(c)  The   inability   to   defend   in  fen- 
cing. 

(d)  Unimaginative. 

Feathering 

(a)  Having    a   capacity    for   absorb- 
ing oil. 

(b)  Trimming     bushes     to     form     a 
hedge. 

(c)  Water     breaking      into    a    fine 
spray. 

(d)  Plumage. 


APPENDIX 


91 


Fellow-servant 

(a)  A   whirring   sound. 

(b)  A   jolly,   good  comrade. 

(c)  One  who  attends  an  athlete. 

(d)  A  person  who  is  engaged  with 
others  in   a   common    pursuit   un- 
der the  same  master. 

Ferment 

(a)  A    substance    capable    of    pro- 
ducing   fermentation. 

(b)  An  aromatic  oil  used  in  candy- 
making. 

(c)  To   stir  up   strife. 

(d)  Determined,   set  in   his  opinion. 
Fetch 

(a)  A  swamp  grass  used  as  hay. 

(b)  Go   after   and   bring. 

(c)  A    clamp    with    which    to    hold 
wire. 

(d)  A    metal    curtain     to     prevent 
smoke   from   a   fire-place. 

Fictitious 

(a)  Covered  with   smooth   knobs. 

(b)  Having  no  real   existence. 

(c)  One   who    makes   his   money   by 
writing    novels. 

(d)  Possible  of  being  verified. 
Figurative 

(a)  Solved  by  means  of  mathemati- 
cal   calculation. 

(b)  Covered    with    designs. 

(c)  Used  in  a  sense  not  literal. 

(d)  Complicated. 
Filose 

(a)  A  dear  little  boy. 

(b)  A  breakfast  food  prepared  from 
barley. 

(c)  Thread-like. 

(d)  A    small    reddish    blood-sucking' 
insect  found  on  rabbits. 

Finn 

(a)  Larva  of  a  tapeworm. 

(b)  A    Welsh    brandy. 

(c)  The   end   or   termination. 

(d)  The    back    or    dull     side    of    a 
knife   blade. 

Firedrake 

(a)  An  ignis  fatuus. 

(b)  The  male  flamingo. 

(c)  The    bright    red-yellow     streaks 
of  the  sun  shining  through  clouds. 

(d)  A   bright   orange   flower   of   the 
liverwort    family. 

Fish 

(a)  A  grapple  hook  used  in  raising 
sunken  vessels. 

(b)  A   vertebrate   animal   with   gills 
retained    through    life,    breathing 
and  passing  its  life  in  the  water. 

(c)  The    broad    end    of    a    weather- 
vane. 

(d)  An   iron  piece  dropped   into  oil 
or  gas  wells  to  discharge  an  ex- 
plosive. 


Flag 

(a)  Any  one  of  various   herbaceous 
plants   mostly    with    sword-shaped 
leaves    and   growing    in    water   or 
moist    places. 

(b)  To  wear  put  or  fatigue. 

(c)  A    fluttering    of   the    heart-beat. 

(d)  A     broad     flourish      in     artistic 
writing. 

Flat 

(a)  Level. 

(b)  Having   lost   its   edges. 

(c)  Dull. 

(d)  Bonds   sold  below   par. 
Fleshen 

(a)  To   loosen   flesh   from   bones. 

(b)  Put  on  flesh. 

(c)  To   wet   a  dry  powder  slowly. 

(d)  To  cause  wood  to  swell  by  wet- 
ting. 

Floatingly 

(a)  Not  serious. 

(b)  Desiring  ease. 

(c)  A   lover  of   pleasure. 

(d)  In   a  bouyant  manner. 
Flowerage 

(a)  The    quantity     of     water    that 
passes  a  given  point. 

(b)  A   wagon   carrying   floral   offer- 
ings at  a  funeral. 

(c)  The  act  of  flowering. 

(d)  Redness  of  the  face  caused  by 
fever. 

Flush 

(a)  One     who     writes    an    original 
work. 

(b)  A  hand  full  of  money. 

(c)  To  deluge  with   water. 

(d)  A  financial  success. 
Focusing 

To  sharpen  a  piece  of  metal. 

Depending   on   other   people. 

Bringing  to  a  point, 
(d)   Imitating  the  manners   of  oth- 
er tribes. 
Foraminifera 

(a)  Small  openings  in  bones. 

(b)  Plants  that  spring  up  in  burnt- 
over   places. 

(c)  The  open  places  in  cracked  lips. 

(d)  A  large  division  of  protozoans. 
Forefeel 

(a)  The  breast  of  a  horse. 

(b)  To   investigate. 

(c)  To    substitute    an    attitude    for 
for  one's  real  feelings. 

(d)  To  have  a  premonition  of. 
Form 

(a)  The    earth    that    has    been    re- 
moved from  the  hole  of  the  earth- 
worm. 

(b)  To   come   from. 

(c)  Brave  and  true. 

(d)  To  devise. 


92 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Fortify 

(a)  A  term  of  shame. 

(b)  To       provide       with       defensive 
works. 

(c)  To  deride. 

(d)  To    prepare    entertainment    for 
more  than  forty. 

Friday 

(a)  A    servant. 

(b)  To   be   lonely   and   discontented. 

(c)  The  sixth  day  of  the  week. 

(d)  A   state   in   which   one  is   indif- 
ferent to  all  appeals. 

Frondivorous 

(a)  Rough  feeling  on  the  tongue. 

(b)  Constantly    appealing    to    one's 
self. 

(c)  Feeding  on  foliage. 

(d)  Something  that  is  easily  dyed. 

Functional 

(a)  Things    that    are    of    no    conse- 
quence. 

(b)  Coming      from      or     being    like 
fungus. 

(c)  Belonging   to   the    proper    office 
or  work  of  an  agent. 

(d)  Acting   quickly. 

Garnet 

(a)  A  double  necklace. 

(b)  A  purchase  by  which  the  lower 
corner    of    a    square    mainsail    or 
foresail  is  hauled  to  the  yard. 

(c)  A  vegetable  used  for  greens  and 
salads. 

(d)  Meaning    not    at   all. 

Gastronomic 

(a)  The  ability  to  eat  a  great  deal. 

(b)  Inflated   like  a  balloon. 

(c)  A   hard   easily   glazed   tile. 

(d)  Pertaining    to    the    art    of    pre- 
paring    and     serving     appetizing 
food. 

Gear 

(a)  Dress 

(b)  An  ornament  worn  back  of  the 
ear. 

(c)  A    cold   north-east    wind. 

(d)  Capacity  for  work. 

General 

(a)  An    officer    who    commands    an 
army. 

(b)  A    slow    steady    rain. 

(c)  An   old   important   looking   gen- 
tleman. 

(d)  A  gentleman. 
Genty 

(a)  Small  and  easily  upset. 

(b)  Of   elegant   form. 

(c)  A    boy    who    pretends    he    is    a 
man. 

(d)  A   small  hen. 


George 

(a)  The    neck    part    of    a    coat    or 
vest. 

(b)  A  dining  servant. 

(c)  One  who  desires  wealth. 

(d)  A   surprise. 
Ginger 

(a)  A  local  name  for  a  Mexican  of 
the  laboring  class. 

(b)  A  side  rein  of  a  bridle. 

(c)  The  pungent,  spicy  rootstock  of 
a   certain   tropical   plant. 

(d)  A    small     insect,     the    bite     of 
which   causes   much    irritation. 

Glycerin 

(a)  A  smooth  glassy  surface. 

(b)  A    sound    like    the    rattling    of 
buttons. 

(c)  A    thick,    oily    liquid    compound 
with  a  sweetish  taste. 

(d)  A     substance     that     cannot     be 
emulsified. 

Goatee 

(a)  A   small   goat. 

(b)  A  boat  fitted  with  one  triangu- 
lar  sail. 

(c)  A   half   sneeze,    half   cough. 

(d)  A    beard    so    trimmed    that    it 
falls  from  the  chin  like  the  beard 
of  a  goat. 

Goggle 

(a)  The  noise  made  by  a  male  tur- 
key. 

(b)  The  rattling  of  a  spoiled  egg. 

(c)  A  disease  of  sheep  causing  diz- 
ziness  and    staggering. 

(d)  A  loose  joint. 

Goldenback 

(a)  A  bill   printed   in  yellow. 

(b)  The  American  golden  plover. 

(c)  An  overbearing  rich  person. 

(d)  Another  name  for  goldfish. 

Good 

(a)  The   kernel   of  a   nut. 

(b)  A    fine   fitting    joint. 

(c)  That  which  yields  any   form   of 
satisfaction. 

(d)  To  pester. 

Goshawk 

(a)  A    short-winged    hawk    of    the 
genus  Accipiter. 

(b)  A  soft  chalky  clay  used  in  man- 
ufacturing. 

(c)  Noise   made   in    forced    expecto- 
ration. 

(d)  A  scare-crow. 

Graine 

(a)  Severe  nervous  pain. 

(b)  The   eggs   of  the   silkworm. 

(c)  Coarse  grit  of  stone. 

(d)  To  crush  or  reduce  to  granular 
form. 


APPENDIX 


93 


Granule 

(a)  A   measure  of   drugs,    1-6   of   a 
grain. 

(b)  A  machine  for  fine  grinding. 

(c)  A  small  grain,  particle,  or  pill. 

(d)  A  disease  of  the  eyelids. 

Grass 

(a)  In    common    usage,    the    green 
plants  on  which  cattle  and  other 
beasts   feed. 

(b)  An  ignorant  person. 

(c)  A   flirt. 

(d)  An  apprenticed  butcher. 

Grayback 

(a)  French    soldier    with    grey    uni- 
form. 

(b)  Mountains   on    which   the   snow 
lies    continually. 

(c)  Confederate  money. 

(d)  One    of    various    animals,    such 
as  the  body-louse  and  the  scaup- 
duck. 

Greenable 

(a)  Easily  ground  to  powder. 

(b)  That  will  take  green  color. 

(c)  A     large     room     for     drawing 
ships. 

(d)  A    hand    bomb    used     in    close 
fighting. 

Grog 

(a)  The  craw  or  throat  of  an   ani- 
mal. 

(b)  A  plaster  of  brown   paper  and 
vinegar. 

(c)  To   make  an   unsweetened   mix- 
ture of  spirits  and  water. 

(d)  A   coarse   food. 

Gross 

(a)  A  fat  goose. 

(b)  Glaring. 

(c)  Unsalable   goods. 

(d)  Liberality. 

Grudge 

(a)  A    drink    made    of    whisky    and 
brandy  mixed. 

(b)  A  rough  bearing. 

(c)  A    tool    used    in    scraping    cast- 
ings. 

(d)  To  give  or  allow  in  a  reluctant 
spirit. 

Gulfed 

(a)  Filled  with  fissures. 

(b)  Completely    overwhelmed. 

(c)  Completely  drained. 

(d)  Drunk. 
Gun-reach 

Sa)  The  axle  under  a  field  cannon, 
b)  The  range  of  a  gun. 

(c)  A  tool  for  cleaning  gun  barrels. 

(d)  A  carrying  strap  attached  to  a 
coarse  bag. 


Gymnospermae 

(a)  A    former    important    class    of 
exogenous  plants. 

(b)  Gymnasium  practice. 

(c)  Oil  gotten  from  sharks. 

(d)  A   mushroom. 
Hammer 

(a)  One  who  constantly  objects. 

(b)  A  wood  destroying  bird. 

(c) '  A  hand-implement  having  a 
head  at  right  angles  to  the  han- 
dle. 

(d)   A   photographic    dry   plate. 

Handless 

(a)  A  power  lift. 

(b)  Without  hands. 

(c)  An  expert  dispatcher. 

(d)  An   automatic   machine. 
Hand-nut 

(a)  A    delicious    large    thin    shelled 
nut. 

(b)  A   nut   that   can  be   cracked  in 
the  hands. 

(c)  A  nut  having  protuberances  en- 
abling it  to  be  turned  without  a 
wrench. 

(d)  A  wart. 
Harbored 

(a)  To  flee  in  disorder. 

(b)  To  be  absolved  from  sin. 

(c)  Given  shelter. 

(d)  To  find  rest. 
Harmonical 

(a)  Possessing  harmony. 

(b)  The    French    harp. 

(c)  A     pair     of     eye-glasses     with 
heavy  frames. 

(d)  A  metal  of  uniform  density 
Harvester 

(a)  The   sand   in   which   pig-iron   is 
run. 

(b)  An  autumn  song. 

(c)  Death. 

(d)  One    who    gathers    a    crop    or 
crops. 

Hazer 

(a)  A  stone  to  sharpen  cutlery. 

(b)  One    who    subjects    another    to 
sportive  mal-treatment. 

(c)  Very  productive  soil. 

(d)  A  saddle  strap. 
Heart 

(a)  To  urge  to  action. 

(b)  The  central   organ   of  the   vas- 
cular system  of  animals. 

(c)  The   female  deer. 

(d)  To  listen  cautiously. 
Helmeted 

(a)  Furnished  with  a  defensive  ar- 
mor for  the  head. 

(b)  One  who  has  had  a  good  help- 
meet. 

(c)  Thwarted. 

(d)  One  who   does   not   reveal   him- 
self. 


94 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Hemic 

(a)  Belonging  to  the  Hemetic  race. 

(b)  A   dry    hacking   cough. 

(c)  Pertaining  to  the  blood. 

(d)  A  pale  countenance. 

Hemispheric 

(a)  In  a  whirl. 

(b)  Rapidly   rotating. 

(c)  Air  at  half  pressure. 

(d)  Of,     pertaining    to,     or    having 
the  form  of  a  half-sphere. 

Heretical 

(a)  Things    inherited. 

(b)  Opinions  held  by  a  small  group. 

(c)  The  right  view. 

(d)  At  variance  with  accepted  views 
or  beliefs. 

Hierarchy 

(a)  Opposition    to   the   existing    gov- 
ernment. 

(b)  Governmental  persecution. 

(c)  A  body  of   ecclesiastical   rulers. 

(d)  Narrow    philosophic    views. 

Holler 

(a)  A  soup  bowl. 

(b)  Hungry  feeling. 

(c)  Halloo. 

(d)  A    holier   than   thou   attitude. 

Honorable 

(a)  Despised    politician. 

(b)  A  worthless  person. 

(c)  Able  to   praise. 

(d)  Estimable. 

Horse-tamer 

(a)  A  tall  coarse  weed  repulsive  to 
horses. 

(b)  One      who      reduces      fractious 
horses  to  submission. 

(c)  A  sharp  spur. 

(d)  A    pungent    mixture    of    pepper 
and   ginger. 

House 

(a)  A  large  frame  for  holding  ma- 
chine  parts. 

(b)  A  resort  of, bad  reputation. 

(c)  A  place  of  abode  or  shelter. 

(d)  Applied   to   an   old   person   who 
is   afraid  of  exposure  to   weather 
conditions. 

Humiliant 

(a)  A    fertilizer   that    increases    or- 
ganic matter  in  soil. 

(b)  An   alkali   that   forms   soap. 

(c)  The     slow     vibrating     resonant 
parts  of  a  musical   instrument. 

(d)  Making    humble. 
Hymnology 

(a)  The  worship  of  Hymen. 

(b)  Marriage  songs. 

(c)  Science  of  eugenics. 

(d)  The  study  or  science  of  hymns. 


Hypnotize 

(a)  To    cause    a    sudden    expansion 
of   liquids. 

(b)  To  treat  with  a  magnet. 

(c)  To  cause   fainting. 

(d)  To     produce     artificial     trance- 
sleep. 

Ice 

(a)  Frozen  water. 

(b)  Hardening  of  bones. 

(c)  Unfriendliness. 

(d)  Dad  manners. 
Icy 

(a)  Brisk. 

(b)  Snubbed. 

(c)  Frozen. 

(d)  Brittle. 
Idolater 

(a)  An    adorer   of    images   or   sym- 
bols. 

(b)  A  bluffer. 

(c)  One    who    indulges    in    personal 
vice. 

(d)  An    oscillating    screen. 
Imaginational 

(a)  Utopian. 

(b)  Pertaining    to    the    creative    or 
constructive  power  of  the  mind. 

(c)  A  place  of  constant  pleasure. 

(d)  Pleasure  seeking. 
Impact  ion 

(a)  To  infringe  on  another's  rights. 

(b)  To  inclose  in  capsules. 

(c)  A    wedging    of    one    part    into 
another. 

(d)  Safety   wedges   on   gun   actions. 
Improperation 

(a)  Reproach. 

(b)  Excess. 

(c)  Without  reasonable  limits. 

(d)  To  destroy  the  value  of  proper- 
ty. 

Inaugural 

(a)  Center  of   an   augur. 

(b)  Without   promise. 

(c)  Circumstances  that  indicate  de- 
feat. 

(d)  Pertaining  to  the   ceremony   of 
investing  persons  with  public  of- 
fice. 

Includible 

(a)  One  whom  punishment  does  not 
seem   to    affect. 

(b)  That    may    be    embraced    as    a 
component  part. 

(c)  That  which  is  shut  out. 

(d)  Speech    that   cannot   be    correc- 
ted. 

Incrustata 

(a)  A     section     of     cyclostomatous 
polyzoans. 

(b)  Covered  with  rust. 

(c)  A  crusty  sweet-meat. 

(d)  An  irritable  old  man  with  fixed 
ideas. 


APPENDIX 


95 


Individualize 

(a)  To  give  offense. 

(b)  To   distinguish. 

(c)  To   boast. 

(d)  To  declare  a  personal   liking. 
Inebriate 

(a)  Drunken. 

(b)  Full  of  vitality. 

(c)  Broken  down. 

(d)  To   brew. 
Infima. 

(a)  The    lowest. 

(b)  An  outcast. 

(c)  An  attractive  little  lady. 

(d)  A    smaller     peak     on    a    large 
mountain. 

Inform 

(a)  Shapely. 

(b)  Handsome. 

(c)  Soiled. 

(d)  Shapeless. 
Infuriate 

(a)  Boiling  caused  by  acid. 

(b)  Enrage. 

(c)  To  feed  flames. 

(d)  To    furrow. 
Initiator 

(a)  A  machine  that  feeds  an  auto- 
matic glass  machine. 

(b)  One  who  instructs  in  rudiments 
or    secret's. 

(c)  One   having  taken   the   vows   of 
the    Catholic   church. 

(d)  One  who  has  very  high  ethical 
opinions. 

Inoccupation 

(a)  Want  of  occupation. 

(b)  Becoming  the  victim  of  a  germ 
disease. 

(c)  A   dangerous   occupation. 

(d)  Period  of  germination  for  seed. 

Inset 

(a)  A  hard  leather  brace  in  a  shoe. 

(b)  One   who   has    fixed   ideas. 

(c)  Insert. 

(d)  A   hard   band   of   leather   cover- 
ing  a   softer   one. 

Instrumental 

(a)  Serving  as  a  means. 

(b)  Universal    information. 

(c)  A   mental    problem. 

(d)  The    phonograph. 
Interested 

(a)  Invested  money. 

(b)  With    sparking   eyes. 

(c)  Having  the  attention  engaged. 

(d)  A   mental    aberration. 
Intimidation 

(a)  Having   detailed   information. 

(b)  Act  of   making   afraid   or   state 
of  being  afraid. 

(c)  Overflowing  with  water. 

(d)  Blending  tones. 


Invariant 

(a)  Constant. 

(b)  Can  not  be  stretched. 


(c)   Repeater. 
(d) 


A  planet  with  a  round  orbit. 
Iron 

(a)  A  splendid  salesman. 

(b)  A  Jewish  merchant. 

(c)  Imitation   gold. 

(d)  The  most  important  of  the  me- 
tallic elements. 

Irritable 

(a)  Showing    ill    temper    on     little 
provocation. 

(b)  Rough    surface. 

(c)  A    place    where    one    can    get 
lost   easily. 

(d)  Tillable   land. 
Isochronize 

(a)  To  cause  vibration,  or  the  like 
in  equal  periods  of  time. 

(b)  A   two    footed    bat-winged    pre- 
historic animal. 

(c)  To  study  closely  with  a  micro- 
scope. 

(d)  To  measure  by  millimeters. 
Jade 

(a)  A  light  feather. 

(b)  To  tease  and  scold. 

(c)  A   low,  worthless  person. 

(d)  An  old  blackbird. 
Jesuitic 

(a)  Like  the  monks.. 

(b)  Crafty. 

(c)  Humorous. 

(d)  Coming    from    Jerusalem. 
Jigger 

(a)  To  jerk  up  and  down  quickly. 

(b)  A   flea,    the   chigoe. 

(c)  To   embarrass. 

(d)  A  light  frame  in  carpentry. 
Jointage 

(a)  Sraps  of  wood. 

(b)  Diversified    freight    put    togeth- 
er to  make  a  car-load. 

(c)  Connection   or   joining. 

(d)  Cabinet  making. 
Jujube 

(a)  A   grimacing  idiot. 

(b)  Any   one  of   several    Old   World 
spiny     shrubs     of    the    buckthorn 
family. 

(c)  Brick-making    clay. 

(d)  The  jeering  of  a  mob. 
Key 

(a)  A   Syrian   lady  of  distinction. 

(b)  Serious  objection. 

(c)  A  detacha^e  instrument  for  op- 
erating a   lock. 

(d)  To   cringe. 
Kick 

fa)   A   fraerment   of   a  brick. 

(b)  A  blow  with  the  foot  or  feet. 

(c)  To   sneak   loviner'v. 

(d)  Without  sense  of  justice. 


96 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


King-bird 

(a)  A    roller    for    land,    formed    of 
two    cones    with    their    bases    to- 
gether. 

(b)  The  male  of  the  grossbeak. 

(c)  An   American  tyrant-flycatcher. 

(d)  A  bird  of  the  crow   family. 

Knight 

(a)  Time  from  sunset  to  sunrise. 

(b)  To  confer  the  honor  of  knight- 
hood  upon. 

(c)  A   Russian   whip. 

(d)  A   nautical   mile. 

Knowingly 

(a)  Without  knowledge. 

(b)  In  a  fawning  manner. 

(c)  Characterized     by     procrastina- 
tion. 

(d)  Understandingly. 

Lamented 

(a)  Regretted. 

(b)  Anything  that  is  rejoiced  over. 

(c)  A  thing  passed  over  but  added 
as  a   supplement. 

(d)  Failure    to    receive    a    passing 
grade. 

Lamp 

(a)  An    oration    delivered    in    Par- 
liament. 

(b)  Entertaining    a    possibility. 

(c)  A   Dutch   measure   of   liquids. 

(d)  A    thin    plate. 

Land-tortoise 

(a)  A    species    of    clematis    bearing 
variegated  pods  of  peculiar  shape. 

(b)  A  tortoise  that  lives  on  land. 

(c)  A   small  one-horse  cultivator. 

(d)  A  machine  for  refining  gold. 

Lanterned 

a)  Two   things    of    a   kind. 

b)  Furnished  with  light. 

,c)   Having    inherent    wickedness, 
(d)   Striated,  or  marked  with  small 
parellel   channels. 

Large 

(a)  A   univalent    hydrocarbon   radi- 
cal. 

(b)  A   rite  or  ceremony   pertaining 
to   burial. 

(c)  A   note  of  the  value  of  two  or 
three  longs,  according  to  rhythm. 

(d)  Anything    not    well    understood. 

Latered 

(a)  Medieval   angelology. 

(b)  Opposed  to  sessil-eyed. 

(c)  Inclined  to  procrastinate. 

(d)  Oblong,  with  one  end  narrower 
than   the  other. 


Law 

(a)  An  obligatory  rule  of  action. 

(b)  A  species  of  palm  tree. 

(c)  A   villain. 

(d)  A  garb  of  mourning. 

Lay 

(a)  Pertaining  to  employment. 

(b)  A  lyric  poem. 

(c)  To   be  situated. 

(d)  A  machine  for  turning  articles 
of  wood,  metal,  etc. 

Leafage 

(a)  Muck. 

(b)  The    blossoming     period     of     a 
plant. 

(c)  Permission. 

(d)  Foliage. 

Leaven 

(a)  Fermenting      dough,      used      to 
lighten  or  raise  other  dough. 

(b)  To    liquidate. 

(c)  To    haggle. 

(d)  A  plant  with  large,  white,  sol- 
itary flowers. 

Leech 

(a)  A  tree  characterized  by  smooth 
gray  bark  and  dark  green  foliage. 

(b)  A  discophorous  annelid,  having 
suckers. 

(c)  A    kind    of    apple    growing    in 
southern    France. 

(d)  A  dry  measure  in  use  in  Mad- 
agascar. 

Leonine 

(a)  Pertaining  to  the  fundamentals 
of  the   Kantian   philosophy. 

(b)  Capable  of  being  thought. 

(c)  A   verse    in    which    the    syllable 
ending  the  verse  has  rime  or  as- 
sonance with  the  syllable  just  be- 
fore   the    cesural    pause. 

(d)  In   ancient   times,   any   multiple 
of  nine. 

Lessoned 

(a)  Diminished. 

(b)  Having  been  granted  a  lease. 

(c)  Given   instruction. 

(d)  Thatched  with  bulrushes. 

Levee 

(a)  Not  shut. 

(b)  In   a  state  of  lethargy. 

(c)  A   clear,   bluish   variety   of   tho- 
rite. 

(d)  A   levy. 

Lie 

(a)  An   elaborate  discourse   deliver- 
ed   in    public. 

(b)  To   utter  falsehood. 

(c)  To  place. 

(d)  To  produce  eggs. 


APPENDIX 


97 


Light 

(a)  A    small    plant    which    lives    as 
a  commensal  in  the  gill  cavity  of 
an   oyster. 

(b)  Illumination. 

(c)  Adored. 

(d)  To  perceive. 
Lilyfy 

(a)  To  practice  occision. 

(b)  To  make  like  a  lily. 

(c)  A  species  of  octopus. 

(d)  To  pay  a  debt  of  honor. 
Linesman 

(a)  A   supplication. 

(b)  One    who   causes. 

(c)  A   workman   for   stringing   tele- 
graph  wires,    etc. 

(d)  In    a    laundry,    one    who    hangs 
clothes  to  dry. 

Link 

(a)  The   egg-plant. 

(b)  A  worshiper's   faldstool. 

(c)  A  flat  or  undulating  stretch  of 
sandy    soil,    more   or    less    covered 
with    grass. 

(d)  Act  of  leaving  undone. 
Liquorice 

(a)  A   general   name   for   all    plants 
from    which    narcotic    drugs    are 
produced. 

(b)  A  cloak. 

(c)  A    perennial    herb    of    the    bean 
family   used   in   confectionery. 

(d)  An  ecclesiastical  service  of  me- 
dieval times. 

Loche 

(a)  A     small     fresh-water     bottom- 
feeding  fish  of  the  Old  World. 

(b)  A   corpse. 

(c)  To    issue   commands. 

(d)  A  fastening  for  doors,  etc. 
Loded 

(a)  Magnetized    by    lodestone. 

(b)  Charged   with   ammunition. 

(c)  Hindered. 

(d)  Having  made  probationary. 
Looked 

(a)  Things     which     cause     unfavor- 
able comment. 

(b)  Having   directed   the   gaze   tow- 
ard an  object. 

(c)  Any    organization. 

(d)  Having  pursued  diligently. 
Lose 

(a)  News. 

(b)  In   front. 

(c)  Entertaining  a   possibility. 

(d)  A  disease  of  the  mouth. 
Lovelily 

(a)  In  a  lovely  or  loveable  manner. 

(b)  A   lily  having  a   large,   solitary, 
cream-colored    flower. 

(c)  The  fruit  of  a  kind  of  cactus. 

(d)  The  otocyst  of  a  mollurk. 


Lunge 

(a)  A  crypt  in  a  Javanese   sanctu- 
ary. 

(b)  A  rope  used  in  training  horses. 

(c)  Violent  misdoing. 

(d)  To   pamper  the   appetite. 
Madder 

(a)  A   species  of   small   snake. 

(b)  A  whiskey  keg. 

(c)  A    Mohammedan    place   of    wor- 
ship. 

(d)  A  square-shaped  wooden  drink- 
ing cup. 

Magnesia 

(a)  A  compound  of  manganese  and 
chlorine. 

(b)  Sweet. 

(c)  Characterized  by  gentleness. 

(d)  A   light,   white,    earthly   powder 
consisting    of    magnesium    oxid. 

Make 

(a)  Hesitation. 

(b)  A   comrade. 

(c)  To   produce. 

(d)  Anything    evil. 
Mammilla 

(a)  Advancement  of  an  army. 

(b)  An  officer  of  high   rank  in  the 
Austrian  army. 

(c)  A  yellow,  hairy  caterpillar. 

(d)  A   nipple  or  teat. 
Mannikin 

(a)  A   plant   with   brilliant   flowers. 

(b)  A    bird    of    the    genus    Alcedo, 
which  preys  on  fish. 

(c)  An   S-link. 

(d)  A    little    man. 
Marketable 

(a)  A  device  used  in  cross-marking 
for  the  planting  of  corn. 

(b)  Suitable  for  sale. 

(c)  The  herb  Paris. 

(d)  A  court  of  equity. 
Masquerade 

(a)  A  game  in  which  balls  are  pro- 
pelled by  mallets. 

(b)  A  cross  on  a  staff  carried  by  a 
bishop. 

(c)  Fancy  knitting. 

(d)  A  social  party  composed  of  per- 
sons masked  and  costumed. 

Mat-rush 

(a)  The    final    hold    in    a    wrestling 
contest. 

(b)  The  beginning  of  a  boxing  con- 
test. 

(c)  A    small    meadow-lark. 

(d)  The      cosmopolitan      great,      or 
lake,  bulrush. 

Mavis 

(a)  The   European   song-thrush. 

(b)  A   tropical    fruit   similar  to   the 
banana. 

(c)  Bearing  hatred  toward  another. 

(d)  A   Chinese  tailor. 


98 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


May 

(a)  A  kind  of  bean. 

(b)  To  domineer  over. 

(c)  A  celebrated  meteorite  found  in 
Siberia. 

(d)  A  maid. 
Measure 

(a)   Pertaining    to    the    canning    of 
oysters. 

!b)   One  who  is  very  mischievous, 
c)   To  bear  forth  or  abroad, 
(d)   Any  standard  of  criticism,  com- 
parison, judgment,  or  award. 
Memorative 

(a)  Pertaining  to  the  memory. 

(b)  Receiving  an   impression. 

(c)  A  safety  appliance  for  gasoline 
engines. 

(d)  Being   too   highly   estimated. 
Mesozoa 

(a)  A  torch   used   in  Italy   at  night 
burials. 

(b)  A  variety  of  granite. 

(c)  A    certain    primary    division    of 
the  animal  kingdom. 

(d)  The  sharp  point  of  a  battle-ax. 
Metrical 

(a)  Pertaining  to   liquid-measure. 

(b)  Of  the   nature  of  verse. 

(c)  A   multiple   of  eight. 

(d)  Pertaining  to  the  spot  at  which 
light    penetrating    a    convex    lens 
is  focused. 

Micrology 

(a)  A     scientific     study    of     micro- 
scopes. 

(b)  The   science   of   bacteria. 

(c)  The     branch     of     science     that 
treats  of  microscopic  objects. 

(d)  The  science  of  antiquities. 
Midwinter 

(a)  A  snowbird. 

(b)  A   submarine. 

(c)  Cold. 

(d)  The  middle  of  winter. 
Mill 

(a)  A  thousandth   part. 

(b)  A    species    of    flat,    unpalatable 
fish. 

(c)  An  insect  similar  to  the  gnat. 

(d)  To  mend  clothing. 
Mind 

(a)  Nasal  catarrh. 

(b)  A  diadem. 

(c)  A    beveled    gear-cog. 

(d)  A  spur- rowel. 
Minotaur 

(a)  A    giant. 

(b)  A  unicorn. 

(c)  A  species  of  octopus. 

(d)  A   monster  with   the   head  of   a 
bull   and  body  of  a  man,  or  vice 
versa. 


Missy 

(a)  A    magnetic    separator   used    in 
the   concentration   of   zinc  ore. 

(b)  Affected,  or  prim. 

(c)  Religious  to  excess. 

(d)  A  deep  trench  filled  with  water. 

Mitral 

(a)  Resembling  the  head-dress  worn 
by    the    Pope,     archbishops,     and 
bishops. 

(b)  Pertaining    to    measurements. 

(c)  Having  little  influence. 

(d)  Covered  with  a  hard  crust. 
Modiste 

(a)  A   beliver   in  the   doctrine   that 
the  body  of   Christ  on   his  ascen- 
sion  merged   into   the   deity. 

(b)  A    dressmaker. 

(c)  Saturated. 

(d)  A   steam  roller. 
Monodactyl 

(a)  A   place   of   worship. 

(b)  A   kind  of   optical   instrument. 

(c)  Having  only  one  toe  or  finger. 

(d)  A    hypothetical    radical    formed 
by   substituting  atoms  of  a  metal 
for   those   of   hydrogen   in   ammo- 
nium. 

Mons 

(a)  The  eminence  at  the  lower  part 
of  the  abdomen. 

(b)  The  sternum. 

(c)  An   instrument   for   distinguish- 
ing sounds  within  the  cavities  of 
the  body. 

(d)  An  overestimation. 
Moor-coot 

(a)  A  rare  variety  of  water-lily. 

(b)  The  water-hen. 

(c)  A    road    built    through    swampy 
ground. 

(d)  A   small   animal   closely  related 
to  the  musk-rat. 

Mortifiedness 

(a)  A   chemical   reaction. 

(b)  Subjugation  of  the  passions. 

(c)  Belonging   to   one's   self,    or  it- 
self. 

(d)  Condition    of    being    formed    by 
subjugation     to     great    heat     and 
pressure. 

Motioned 

(a)  Opposed. 

(b)  Sheltered. 

(c)  Directed  by  a  sign  or  gesture. 

(d)  Fruitful. 
Mountain 

(a)  A   permutation   lock. 

(b)  Alliteration. 

(c)  A  proletariat. 

(d)  A    lofty   elevation  of   earth   and 
rock. 


APPENDIX 


99 


Mowing 

(a)  The  process  of  putting  hay,  etc., 
into   a   mow. 

(b)  Propelling. 

(c)  Nonplussing. 

(d)  A    wing   formed    of    membrane, 
as  found  among  bats,  etc. 

Mummy 

(a)  The    science    of    the    forms    as- 
sumed by  plants  and  animals. 

(b)  A   small    eruption   of   the   skin, 
as  a  pimple. 

(c)  A  child's  word  for  mother. 

(d)  Spotted. 
Muscle 

(a)  A   mytiloid   bivalve   mollusk. 

(b)  The  assembling  of  troops. 

(c)  One  who  makes  trousers. 

(d)  A  bungling  performance. 
Muskrat 

(a)  One  who  lives  his  entire  life  at 
the  place  of   his  birth. 

(b)  An  aquatic  rat-like  rodent. 

(c)  A   mouth  organ. 

(d)  A   large  water-fowl    having    an 
enormous  bill. 

Mutter 

(a)  Grumble. 

(b)  A      strong      perfume      obtained 
from  the  male  musk-deer. 

(c)  State  of  having  more  than  one 
husband. 

(d)  More  foolish. 
Necessary 

(a)  A  deceased  person. 

(b)  That  which  is  indispensable. 

(c)  A  kind  of  fruit. 

(d)  The  tithe  belonging  to  a  person. 
Neglect 

(a)  The  cavity  between  the  lips  and 
the  pharynx. 

(b)  To    fail    to    treat    with    proper 
care. 

(c)  Salsify,  or  oyster  plant. 

(d)  A    hinge. 
Nervule 

(a)  A  kind  of  cheese  manufactured 
in    Switzerland. 

(b)  A  figure  constructed  of  ovalbu- 
min. 

(c)  A  small  nerve. 

(d)  To   overpersuade. 
Nightcap 

(a)  A  head-covering  for  sleeping  in. 

(b)  A  mad  prank. 

(c)  Shelter  for  sheep  or  goats. 

(d)  A.  permutation. 
Nobodyness 

(a)  Priestism. 

(b)  An  obsequy. 

(c)  The  state  of  being  anonymous. 

(d)  State  of  having  lost  one's  prop- 
erty. 


Northeast 

(a)  A  topmast. 

(b)  To  cry  aloud. 

(c)  The  point  of  the  horizon   lying 
midway   between  north   and   east. 

(d)  To  domineer  over  a  weaker  per- 
son. 

Nothingly 

(a)  That  which   a  person   does   for, 
or  with   reference  to,    another   or 
others. 

(b)  A  Hindu  place  of  worship. 

(c)  A  tedious  piece  of  work. 

(d)  Without  value  or  result. 
Nursedom 

(a)  An  outrage. 

(b)  Convalescence. 

(c)  An  organized  body  of  nurses. 

(d)  The    period    of    confinement    at 
childbirth. 

Oak-tanned 

(a)  Exceeded  in  number  of  votes. 

(b)  Made  brown. 

(c)  Tanned  with  an  extract  of  oak- 
bark. 

(d)  Strengthened  by  an  addition  of 
oak  timbers. 

Obigancy 

(a)  An   oration. 

(b)  The    state    of    being    bound    in 
law  or  conscience. 

(c)  An  organization  for  the  protec- 
tion of  dumb  animals. 

(d)  The  reign  of  a  sultan. 
Octapody 

(a)  Cleft  into  eight  parts. 

(b)  An  eight-footed  verse  or  period. 

(c)  A  species  of  octopus. 

(d)  Incomprehensibility. 
On 

(a)  In  contact  with  the  tipper  side 
or  surface  of. 

(b)  Act    of    receiving    a    wonderful 
impression. 

(c)  Without  exception. 

(d)  To  issue  commands. 
Oratorical 

(a)  Pertaining  to  public  speaking. 

(b)  A   kind   of   gaitor  used  -by   sol- 
diers. . 

(c)  Having  to  do  with  newspapers. 

(d)  A    tropical    evergreen. 
Order 

(a)  Anything   held   in   contempt. 

(b)  A   society  of  persons  organized 
for  mutual   protection,  aid,  etc. 

(c)  An  instrument  for  showing  the 
wave  form  of  alternating  currents 

(d)  Confusion. 
Ornamental 

(a)  Any  vital  or  systematically  ar- 
ranged  organic   whole. 

(b)  An  operative. 

(c)  Serving  to  adorn. 

(d)  A   sport. 


100 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Ostentatious 

(a)  Pretentious. 

(b)  Confidential. 

(c)  Foolish. 

(d)  Influential. 

Outscout 

(a)  The  common  dew-berry. 

(b)  A   sum  of  money   sent  through 
the  mails. 

(c)  To  spy  successfully. 

(d)  An  advance  scout. 
Overflow 

(a)  Most     pfosobranchiate     gastra- 
pods. 

(b)  A  flood. 

(c)  Excessive    secretion    of    organic 
acids. 

(d)  An  omittance. 
Oviducal 

(a)  Pertaining  to   an   oviduct. 

(b)  Having  to  do  with  an  over- lord. 

(c)  Egotistically. 

(d)  Having  the  form  of  an  egg. 

Packery 

(a)  An    establishment    where    goods 
are  packed. 

(b)  A    hog-like    wild    quadruped    of 
America. 

(c)  The   act   of   canning   fruits   and 
vegetables. 

(d)  A    rope   connected   to    the    rud- 
der of  a  boat. 

Pageant 

(a)  A  dramatic  representation. 

(b)  Overalls. 

(c)  A  discovery. 

(d)  A  holiday  costume. 

Painstaking 

a)  Calmness. 

b)  Ability  to  endure  excessive  pain 

c)  Claiming  by  right  of  discovery, 
(d)   Close  and  accurate  attention. 

Paper-faced 

(a)  Very  ruddy. 

(b)  Cowardly. 

(c)  Coated  or  faced  with  paper. 

(d)  Pretending  to  do  one  thing  and 
doing  the  other. 

Paraphernalia 

(a)  Sluggishness. 

(b)  A  supporting  colums». 

(c)  In    astronomy,    the    plotting    of 
curves     to     represent     the     move- 
ments   of    planets. 

(d)  Belongings. 

Partial 

(a)  To  share. 

(b)  In  acoustics,  a  harmonic. 

(c)  A     division      or      wall    between 
apartments. 

<d)  Having  lost  the  power  of  action 


Pass 

(a)  Soft   food   for   infants. 

(b)  To  go  by,  over,  through,  or  the 
like. 

(c)  One    of    the    minute    elevations 
in  the   skin   in   which   nerves  ter- 
minate. 

(d)  Sudden  emotion. 
Pastoral 

(a)  A  fable  or  allegory  illustrating 
the   truth. 

(b)  A    poem,   play   or  book   dealing 
with    rural    customs. 

(c)  A  small  wooden  vessel  used  as  a 
dipper. 

(d)  Turned  in. 
Pea-comb 

(a)  A   fowl's   comb  in   three  paral- 
lel parts. 

(b)  One-half  of  a  pea-pod. 

(c)  A   machine   for  grading  peas. 

(d)  To   comb  thoroughly. 
Pectoral 

(a)  A  miner's  tool. 

(b)  An     ornament     worn      on     the 
breast. 

(c)  Attractive. 

(d)  An  old-fashioned  reaper. 
Peeped 

(a)  By  the  day. 

(b)  A  small  pointed  piece  of  wood. 

(c)  Looked  slyly. 

(d)  Nettled. 

Pelviform 

(a)  Having  a  knob. 

(b)  Irregular. 

(c)  Smooth. 

(d)  Shallowly  cup-shaped. 

Pennate 

(a)  Unobstructed. 

(b)  Having  wings  or  feathers. 

(c)  Overcome  with  remorse. 

(d)  Easily  influenced. 
Perimeter 

(a)  The  point  at  which  the  diagon- 
als of  a  parellelogram  intersect. 

(b)  A  guage  on  a  head-gate. 

(c)  To  amble. 

(d)  The   bounding    line   of   any    fig- 
ure of  two  dimensions. 

Perling 

(a)  Without  regard  to  true  value. 

(b)  One   of    a    series    of    horizontal 
timbers   laid   across   the   principal 
rafters  in  building. 

(c)  Having  the  manner  of  a  fatalist 

(d)  Braiding. 

Persist 

(a)  In  geometry,  an  even  surface. 

(b)  To  adhere  firmly  to  any  course. 

(c)  A  kind  of  fodder. 

(d)  To  make  smooth. 


APPENDIX 


101 


Phi  Beta  Kappa 

(a)  An    honorary    fraternity    based 
upon  high  scholorship. 

(b)  An  honorary  athletic  fraternity. 

(c)  A    Jewish    fraternal    organiza- 
tion founded  in  New  York. 

(d)  An    honorary    scientific    frater- 
nity. 

Pickle 

(a)  An  attractive  French  maid. 

(b)  A  small  quantity. 

(c)  To  spy  into  foreign  matters  of 
state. 

(d)  To  give  up  in  despair. 
Pigeon-English 

(a)  A  small   long-tailed  parrot. 

(b)  A    cry    made   by    pigeons    when 
startled. 

(c)  A  jargon  of  English  intermixed 
with    Chinese,    Portuguese,    etc. 

(d)  Profanity. 
Pine 

(a)  Intolerance  of  light. 

(b)  A    kind    of    bulrush    found    in 
Egypt. 

(c)  The  laughing  gull. 

(d)  The      name     of      a     game      of 
chance. 

Pipe 

(a)  Dismay. 

(b)  A  domesticated  dove. 

(c)  The   leader   of   a   flock   of   wild 
geese. 

(d)  An   apparatus   for   smoking   to- 
bacco. 

Piu 

(a)  Fortune  telling. 

(b)  Little. 

(c)  In  music,  more. 

(d)  In  music,    less. 
Plain 

(a)  A  species  of  grass. 

(b)  An  expanse  of  level  land. 

(c)  A    long   spear  used   by   the   Vi- 
kings. 

(d)  To  cause  chemical  action. 
Plane 

(a)  An  expanse  of  level  land. 

(b)  To  braid. 

(c)  Level. 

(d)  A  pipe  which  supplies  the  boil- 
er of  a  steam  engine. 

Planting-ground 

(a)  The  act  of  sowing  or  planting 

rain. 
An  expanse  of  level  ground. 
An  area  where  oyster-beds   are 
laid, 
(d)  A   cement   foundation   for   huge 

cannon. 
Platonist 

(a)  One  who  is  beautiful. 

(b)  A  buffoon. 

(c)  Any  imitation. 

(d)  A  follower  of  Plato. 


Plot 

(a)  To  commit  crime. 

(b)  A  cushion  behind  a  saddle,  de- 
signed for  a  lady  rider. 

(c)  To  represent  graphically. 

(d)  To  scan  intently. 

Plume 

(a)   Cards   used    for   gambling    pur- 


(b)  A  small  piece  of  land. 

(c)  A  feather,  especially  when  large 
and  ornamental. 

(d)  A  plant  similar  to  the  cactus. 
Pneumatical 

(a)  Pertaining  to  air  or  gas. 

(b)  Having  to  do  with  rubber. 

(c)  Concerning  weight. 

(d)  Soft. 
Poisoned 

Subjected  to  maltreatment. 

Having  pin-feathers. 

Made  ill  or  killed  by  poison, 
(d)  An  inheritance. 
Policeman 

(a)  Any  person  who  receives  bribe 
money. 

(b)  A  city  watchman. 

(c)  An  egotistical,  overbearing  man 

(d)  A   chasm. 
Pollen 

(a)  A  flat  dish. 

(b)  An  agreeable  sensation  or  emo- 
tion. 

(c)  To  supply  or  dust  with  pollen. 

(d)  Gentle. 

Polyangular 

(a)  Many-angled. 

(b)  Irregular. 

(c)  Complicated. 

(d)  Shapely. 

Pond-pine 

(a)  A  variety  of  loblolly-pine. 

(b)  A  kind  of  rush. 

(c)  A  water-lily  with  bright   green 
leaves. 

(d)  A  tree  stripped  of  branches. 

Popper 

(a)  To  trot. 

(b)  A  quick  thrust. 

(c)  To  deprive  of  hair. 

(d)  To  chuckle. 

Port 

(a)  Full-fledged. 

(b)  To   act   contrarily. 

(c)  To  bear. 

(d)  Empty. 

Positional 

(a)  Loss  of  self-confidence. 

(b)  The  highest  point  of  a  column. 

(c)  Pertaining  to  position. 

(d)  A  basis. 


102 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Potent  • 

(a)  Bending    or    yielding    to    pres- 
sure. 

(b)  Not  existing  in  possibility. 

(c)  A  pivot-bearing  in  a  watch. 

(d)  To  elect  to  office. 
Precent 

(a)  To  give. 

(b)  To   place  in  a   particular  man- 
ner. 

(c)  A  commandment. 

(d)  To   lead  the  singing  of  a  choir 
or  congregation. 

Prefecture 

(a)  The  office  of  a  prefect. 

(b)  Superiority. 

(c)  State  of  being  without  blemish. 

(d)  A    membrane    lining    the    abdo- 
menal  cavity. 

Prepended 

(a)   Placed    at    right    angles    to    a 

fiven    line   or   surface. 
Harassed. 

(c)  Explained. 

(d)  Considered  beforehand. 
Presidencia 

(a)  In  Cuba,  used  to  designate  the 
term  of  office  of  the  governor. 

(b)  A  bill  proposed  or  initiated  by 
the  president. 

(c)  In    the   Philippine   Islands,    the 
building  used  as  government  head- 
quarters. 

(d)  The    ruler    of    the    Republic    of 
Panama. 

Pretext 


(b)  A  fictitious  reason  or  motive. 


(a)   Cruel. 
(b) 

(c)  To  derive  joy  from  a  thing. 

(d)  An  act  without  cause. 
Primary 

(a)  Unimportant. 

(b)  That    which    is    first    in    rank, 
dignity,  or  importance. 

(c)  Labor  for  pleasure  rather  than 
for  wages. 

(d)  A    written     or     printed    paper 
posted  in  a  public  place. 

Print 

(a)  To  kiss. 

A   picture  frame. 
An    impression    with    ink    from 
type,  plates,  etc. 

(d)  To  refer  a  law  for  amendment. 
Privative 

(a)  Ungrateful. 

(b)  Causing  want. 

(c)  Scheming  malignantly. 

(d)  Belonging  to  the  ranks. 
Processal 

(a)  Relating  to  marching. 

b)  Relating  to  proceedings  at  law. 

c)  Having  great  expectation. 

d)  Trunks  of  some  animals,  as  the 
elephant. 


(a) 
(b) 
(c) 


Professorate 

(a)  To  expound. 

(b)  To  pull  with  sudden  force. 

(c)  The  position  of  a  professor. 

(d)  To  throw  one's  self  headlong. 
Projectable 

(a)  A  drafting  table. 

(b)  Capable  of  being  foretold. 

(c)  Possible  of  projection. 

(d)  Part  of  a  photometer. 
Proliferation 

(a)  The  act  of  producing  rapidly. 

(b)  Denial. 

(c)  Act  of  inciting. 

(d)  A  projection. 
Proofy 

(a)  A   crystal   of   quartz,   pale   rose 
in  color. 

(b)  A  species  of  grouse  with  feath- 
ered  toes. 

(c)  Ragged. 

(d)  Expected  to  turn  out  well. 
Prudish 

(a)  Silly. 

(b)  A  shallow  vessel  made  of  pew- 
ter. 

(c)  Overnice. 

(d)  In  a  conciliatory  manner. 

Puffed 

(a)  Made   to   pant. 

(b)  A  seafish  of  the  cod  family. 

(c)  Having  a  great  deal  of  dandruff 

(d)  A    small    bird    similar    to    the 
sparrow. 

Puma 

(a)  A  division  of  birds  comprising 
those  whose  young  are  not  hatch- 
ed  until    able   to   care    for   them- 
selves. 

(b)  Scrawny. 

(c)  A    large    American    carnivorous 
animal. 

(d)  Enormous. 

Pupilage 

(a)  The  period  during  which  an  in- 
sect is  enclosed  in  its  case  before 
full   development. 

(b)  Six  years  of  age. 

(c)  The  act  of  giving  instruction. 

(d)  The  state  or  period  of  being  a. 
pupil. 

Quarter 

a)  A  plunderer. 

b)  A   mass  of  molten   metal. 

c)  To  fix  a  bayonet  on  a  gun. 

(d)  To    drive    a    carriage    so    as    to 
avoid  inequalities  of  ground. 

Queened 

(a)  Twisted. 

(b)  Cut  short. 

(c)  Made  a  queen  of. 

(d)  Allowed  to  grow  long. 


APPENDIX 


103 


Quietant 

(a)  Anything  that  prevents  quiet. 

(b)  Anything   that   induces   quiet. 

(c)  State  of  being  quiet. 

(d)  A  deed  of  release. 

Race 

(a)  To  remove  dirt  from  stone. 

(b)  A  brogue. 

(c)  Stuffed    with    feathers    of    poor 
quality. 

(d)  A  competitive  trial  of  speed. 

Radial 

(a)  A  radiating  part. 

(b)  Any     section     of     a     spectrum 
which   contains   only   one   color. 

(c)  Fundamental. 

(d)  A  single  ray  of  sunlight. 

Rail-snipe 

(a)  A  small  carpenter's  plane. 

(b)  A  painted  snipe 

(c)  A  Hazard. 

(d)  An  adz. 

Rate 

(a)  The  measure  of  a  thing. 

(b)  To   praise   highly. 

(c)  Cut  down  level  with  the  ground 

(d)  A   palm    with    smooth    reed-like 

stem. 

Ravished 

(a)  Coarse. 

(b)  Captivated   or  emaptured. 

(c)  Starved. 

(d)  Devoured  greedily. 

Reader 

(a)  One  who  reads. 

(b)  A  class  of  fishes  including  the 
skate,  etc. 

(c)  Scantily   clad. 

(d)  More   wisely. 

Recall 

(a)  A    light    sword    with    a    narrow 
blade. 

(b)  A  calling  back. 

(c)  Having  the  feathers  only  begin- 
ning to   shoot. 

(d)  Shrink  or  fall  back. 
Reconcile 

(a)  To    restore   to    friendship    after 
estrangement. 

(b)  A    condition    favorable  '  to    pho- 
tography. 

(c)  To  pledge  reformation. 

(d)  To  kiss  tenderly. 
Red 

(a)  A  color  seen  at  the  end  of  the 
spectrum    opposite    to    the    violet 
end. 

(b)  A    long,    deep    hollow    worn    by 
a  torrent. 

<c)   Objectionable, 
(d)  Perused. 


Redskin 

(a)  A  petrified  plant. 

(b)  A    small     copper-tinged     snake 
which  is  very  poisonous. 

(c)  A  North  American  Indian. 

(d)  An  indolent  person. 
Reformer 

(a)  One    wrho    reconstructs,    especi- 
ally from  bad  to  good. 

(b)  One    of    several    boats    suppor- 
ing  a  bridge. 

(c)  Better. 

(d)  The  principal  of  inflammability. 
Relaxed 

(a)  Tightened. 

(b)  A    textile    fabric    of    wool    and 
silk. 

(c)  Slackened. 

(d)  Suspended. 

Remittance 

(a)  Without   value. 

(b)  The  act  of  transmitting  money. 

(c)  A    disappointment. 

(d)  Constant  striving  toward  a  fix- 
ed goal. 

Repel 

(a)  To  fall  back. 

(b)  To  give  up  without  a  struggle. 

(c)  To   cease. 

(d)  To  keep  back. 

Retentive 

(a)  Having  the  power  to  keep. 

(b)  Heedful. 

(c)  Having  compassion. 

(d)  That  which  may  be  held. 

Returnable 

(a)  A   device   for   changing   the  po- 
sition   of    heavy    objects,    such    as 
locomotives,  etc. 

(b)  Capable  of  being  returned. 

(c)  In   excellent   condition. 

(d)  Acceptable. 

Reviver 

(a)  A   reformer. 

(b)  One  who  or  that  which   reani- 
mates. 

(c)  A  channel  for  carrying  off  rain 
water. 

(d)  An   angular   piece   of    cloth   in- 
serted in  a  garment. 

Rhetoricate 

(a)  To  affect  little,  or  not  at  all. 

(b)  To  prepare  an  oration. 

(c)  To    instruct    in   oratory. 

(d)  To  make  an  oratorical  display. 

Ridge 

(a)  A  peak. 

(b)  To   cover  with   raised  strips   or 
lengthened    elevations. 

(c)  To  scold. 

(d)  A  blacksmith's  vise. 


104 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Rily 

(a)  A  rope  or  chain  used  to  guide 
or  steady  a  suspended  weight. 

(b)  Turbid. 

(c)  Frosty. 

(d)  A  lacrosse  racket. 

Rippling 

(a)  A  rapid  or  eddy  of  tide. 

(b)  System  of  ship's  cordage  which 
supports    the    masts    and    extends 
the  sails. 


(c)  Personal  satire. 
(d) 


Extremely. 
Roast 

(a)  A  piece  of  meat  roasted  or  pre- 
pared for  roasting. 

(b)  To    crown    with    a    wreath    of 
laurel. 

(c)  To  persevere. 

(d)  In  chess,  the  rook  or  castle. 

Roman 

(a)  A   wax   candle. 

(b)  A  style  of  type  or  letter. 

(c)  Deep  orange  in  color. 

(d)  A   scratch-harrow. 

Roofer 

(a)  Harsher. 

(b)  One     who     makes     or     repairs 
roofs. 

(c)  One  who  cleans  and  cards  wool. 

(d)  A  humbug. 

Rootage 

(a)  Pertaining  to  potatoes. 

(b)  Aggregate  of  a  plant's  roots. 

(c)  The  age  at  which  a  hog  begins 
to  root. 

(d)  The    three    days    preceding    the 
festival  of  Ascension. 

Rough 

A   ruffian 

A  range  of  small  mountains. 
A  bird  similar  to  the  partridge. 
(d)   A  sulky  rake. 

Rueful 

a)  A  hallucination. 

b)  Putrid. 

c)  Sleepy. 
(d)   Sorrowful. 

Run 

(a)  To  use  insolent  language. 
'b)   A  battle. 

c)  Disordered  intellect. 

d)  To  move  at  a  pace  swifter  than 
a  walk. 

Sahib 

(a)  Master  or  gentleman. 

(b)  A  male  goat. 

(c)  An     erruptive    disease      of    the 
skin. 

(d)  An  oriental  servant. 


Salable 

(a)  A  price  label. 

(b)  Marketable. 

(c)  A  Hawaiian  delicacy. 

(d)  Soft  and   silky. 

Sand-blast 

(a)  An  instrument  for  propelling  a 
jet  of  sand  with  great  force. 

(b)  A  desert  storm. 

(c)  A     wind     with     a     velocity     of 
eighty  or  more  miles  per  hour. 

(d)  A  kind  of  giant  powder. 

Sauce 

(a)  Tincture  of  opium. 

(b)  Ears,  feet,  etc.,  of  swine,  pick- 
led. 

(c)  Soft    crayon    for    use    with    the 
stump. 

(d)  In    ancient   music,    a    small    in- 
terval equal  to  the  half  of  a  com- 
ma. 

Scalp 

(a)  A  small  shovel-like  instrument. 

(b)  To   prevaricate. 

(c)  To     administer    medicine    to     a 
horse. 

(d)  The  skin,   or  skin   and   hair,   of 
the  top  of  the  skull. 

Scatteration 

(a)  State     or      condition      of   being 
without  good  sense. 

(b)  A  small,  inadequate  ration. 

(c)  An    ore    containing    zinc,    lead, 
and  iron. 

(d)  The  act  of  scattering. 

Scratch 

(a)  To  play  childish  games. 

(b)  Indiscriminate. 

(c)  Perseverance. 

(d)  Proclivity. 

Scythe-hook 

(a)  A      reaping-hook        having        a 
smooth  blade. 

(b)  A    hook    on    which    a    scythe   is 
hung  when  not  in  use. 

(c)  An     appliance     by     means     of 
which    the   blade    of    a    scythe    is 
fastened  to  the  handle. 

(d)  Any  crescent-shaped  hook. 

Secondary 

(a)  A   colleague. 

(b)  Pertaining   to    youth. 

(c)  One    who    acts    in    a    subordi- 
nate capacity. 

(d)  Of  no  value. 

Seditious 

(a)  Active. 

(b)  Factious  or  turbulent. 

(c)  Without  regard  for  others. 

(d)  Wicked. 


APPENDIX 


105 


Seizing 

(a)  A  grading  screen. 

(b)  A    state    approaching    serfdom 
or  slavery. 

(c)  The    act    of    grasping    suddenly 
or  forcibly. 

(d)  A  flirt. 
Self-assumed 

(a)  Animated. 

(b)  Appropriated  by  one's  own  act, 
opinion,  or  authority. 

(c)  Egotistical. 

(d)  Righteous  in  one's  own  estima- 
tion only. 

Self-possession 

(a)  Evident  without  proof. 

(b)  Caring   for  one's  self  alone. 

(c)  Obstinate  or  contrary. 

(d)  The  full  command  of  one's  fac- 
ulties. 

Semioval 

(a)  A  peculiar,  uneven  valley  found 
in  the  South  Sea  Islands. 

(b)  Fruit  of  a  certain  kind  of  palm 
tree. 

(c)  A   water-snake  of  the  Amazon. 

(d)  Having    the    form    of    half    an 
oval. 

Sensitive 

(a)  One   who    undergoes   an    opera- 
tion. 

(b)  One   who   is   impressible. 

(c)  State  of  being  famished. 

(d)  A  person   who   is   hypnotized. 
Serpent 

(a)  A   horned  toad. 

(b)  A    strip    of    leather    for    shar- 
pening  razors. 

(c)  A  goose-neck   coupling. 

(d)  Snake-like. 
Sessional 

(a)  A  low,  closed,  four-wheeled  car- 
riage for  two. 

(b)  A  brief  pause  or  stop. 

(c)  A  truce. 

(d)  Pertaining    to   the    sitting   of   a 
court  or  public  body. 

Shack 

(a)  The    leg    from   the    knee   to   the 
foot. 

(b)  A    vagabond. 

(c)  A   long   bar   of  iron. 

(d)  A  fish  of  the  herring  family. 
Sham 

(a)  To    shanghai. 

(b)  A   false   pretense. 

(c)  Partial    collapse. 

(d)  To    dishonor. 
Sheep 

(a)  The   whiff,   a  kind  of  fish. 

(b)  To   load   freight. 

(c)  A   common  domestic   animal,   of 
the  genus   Ovis. 

(d)  Movement  of  heavy  bodies. 


Sheet 

(a)  To  protect  from  danger. 

(b)  A    model    or    mold    for   making 
bricks. 

(c)  To  shroud. 

(d)  To  give  or  deposit  in  pledge. 
Shipshape 

(a)  Neatly. 

(b)  A  derisive  term1  for  shaped  like 
a  tub. 

(c)  Disorderly. 

(d)  The  top  of  a  ship's  highest  mast. 
Shoot 

(a)  Acute   indigestion. 

(b)  A  young  branch  of  a  plant. 

(c)  A  greeting. 

(d)  A    triumphant    exclamation. 

Shoulder-blade 

(a)  An   evening   gown. 

(b)  A  sharp  pointed  sword  or  dag- 
ger. 

(c)  In  a  troop  of  cavalry,  the  com- 
mand to  charge. 

(d)  The  scapula,  a  bone  of  the  body. 
Shunt 

(a)  A  turning  aside. 

(b)  A  copper  wire. 

(c)  An   electrometer. 

(d)  To  ignore  a  friend  unwittingly. 
Side 

(a)  Slowly. 

(b)  Widely. 

(c)  Niggardly. 

(d)  Dreamily.    . 
Silly 

(a)  Unnatural    collection    of    water 
in  the  body. 

(b)  A  lover  of  full-dress  suits. 

(c)  An  enemy  who  pretends  to  be  a 
friend. 

(d)  A    foolish    person. 
bimukaneity 

(a)  Profuse  of  sweating. 

(b)  The    state   of   occurring    or   ex- 
isting at  the  same  time. 

(c)  Inability  to  pay  a  debt  of  honor 

(d)  Counterfeiting. 
Singular 

(a)  A  dog  that  never  barks  or  howls 

(b)  To    gamble    with    dice. 

(c)  Not     capable    of    sustaining     a 
large  population. 

(d)  That  which  stands  by  itself, 
bitting 

(a)  A  species  of  marine  algae. 

(b)  Being   in   the   position   of  a   sit- 
ter. 

(c)  Placing  in   position. 

(d)  T  e   negative   of   a   photograph. 
J-ky-blue 

(a)  Extremely    morose. 

(b)  Of  the   color  of   the   sky. 

(c)  Fair   weather. 

(d)  A  life-line. 


106 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Sled 

(a)  To   neglect  work. 

(b)  To  ride  or  use  a  vehicle  made 
for  sliding  on  snow. 

(c)  The   books   of   the   New   Testa- 
ment usually  called  protocanonical 

(d)  To   fall    accidently. 
Slip 

(a)  One  who   is  burdened  with   ex- 
cessive adipose  tissue. 

(b)  An   ancient   lamp. 

(c)  Curds  and  whey. 

(d)  A  very  short  track. 
Slur 

(a)  A  louse. 

(b)  To  distill. 

(c)  A  slighting  remark. 

(d)  To  commit  depredation. 
Smoke-stack 

(a)  Buckwheat  pancakes. 

(b)  A  team  of   horses   arranged   in 
tandem    order. 

(c)  An  upright  pipe  through  which 
smoke  is  discharged  from   a   fur- 
nace. 

(d)  The  stem  of  a  smoking  pipe 
Snarl 

(a)  A    noose. 

(b)  To    say     in    a    surly     or     angry 
manner. 

(c)  A  kind  of  fowl  in  Brazil. 

(d)  Of,  or  pertaining  to,  the  ictus, 
or  verse  stress. 

Social 

(a)  An  informal  social  gathering 

(b)  A    light,    one-seated   vehicle 

(c)  Easily  yielding  to  pressure. 

(d)  Absurd   talk. 
Socket 

(a)  A    term    in    golf,    meaning,    in 
iron-play,    to    strike    the    ball    off 
the  heel  of  the  club. 

(b)  Having    or    designating    a    tail 
nearly    or    quite    symmetrical. 

(c)  To   saturate. 

(d)  A  plant  with  pendulous  flowers, 
a  native  of   South  America. 

Sole 

(a)  The  bottom  of  the  foot 

(b)  Having  the  crystals  of  the  con- 
stituent minerals  equally  developed 

(c)  To  make  homologous. 

(d)  Life,   essence,   or   spirit. 
Sound 

(a)  Any   vibration. 

(b)  A    long    and    relatively    narrow 
body   of  water. 

(c)  Generous. 

(d)  A  cavity. 
Spaceful 

(a)  Destruction  by  frost. 

(b)  White  with  age. 

(c)  Carefree. 

(d)  Of  indefinite  or  vast  extent. 


Specificity 

(a)  Happiness. 

(b)  Appropriateness. 

(c)  The   state  of   being    precise. 

(d)  The   state  of   theorizing. 

Speech 

(a)  A    flea. 

(b)  Corruption. 

(c)  The       faculty       of       expressing 
thought  by  spoken  words. 

(d)  A  bird  of  color,  with  long  neck 
and   legs. 

Spice-tree 

(a)  A  variety  of  apple  tree. 

(b)  A  palm  tree  found  in  Italy. 

(c)  An  evergreen  tree  of  the  west- 
ern  coast   of   the   United   States. 

(d)  To  perform  plant-surgery. 

Spiritally 

(a)  Divinely. 

(b)  In   an   animated   manner. 

(c)  Winding    like    the    thread    of    a 
screw. 

(d)  With  the  breath. 

Split 

(a)  The  verbena. 

(b)  Wordiness. 

(c)  A  thin  piece  of   wood,  etc.,  for 
confining     a    broken     or     injured 
limb. 

(d)  Severed. 

Sport 

(a)  A    spoke-shave. 

(b)  To   splinter. 

(c)  A  word  of  refusal  or  denial. 

(d)  Diversion. 
Sprinkle 

(a)  Printer's  types,   confusedly  mix- 
ed. 

(b)  A  falling  in  drops  or  particles. 

(c)  To  strike  with  something  thrown 

(d)  A  ray  of  lamp-light. 

Square 

(a)  Engrossed   in   thought. 

(b)  A    figure    having     three     equal 
sides. 

(c)  Having     four    equal     sides    and 
four    right    angles. 

(d)  Any   polygon. 

Stableman 

(a)  One    who    can    perform    balanc- 
ing feats  adroitly. 

(b)  In    a    quandry. 

(c)  A  jockey. 

(d)  A  man  employed  about  a  stable. 

Stale 

(a)  Dilatory. 

(b)  Food  made  by  stirring  oatmeal, 
or  other  meal   into  boiling  water. 

(c)  An  arch  over  a  gate. 

(d)  In    chess,    a   stalemate. 


APPENDIX 


107 


Stare 

(a)  In  a  gossipy  manner. 

(b)  To  fix  the  eyes  in  a  steady  gaze 

(c)  Absolute. 

(d)  Empty. 

Statics 

(a)  The  science  of  bodies  in  motion. 

(b)  The   science  of   energy. 

(c)  The  science  of  fluids. 

(d)  The  science  of  bodies  at  rest. 

Stint 

(a)  To  provide  for  or  serve  scantily 

(b)  Without  regard  to  method. 

(c)  Awkwardly. 

(d)  A    small    arctic   animal    similar 
to  the  weasel. 

Stopped 

(a)  Affected    or    produced    by    stop- 
ping or  damping. 

(b)  Suiting     or     belonging     to      a 
teacher  of  children. 

(c)  Destitute    of    the     strength     of 
mind    which    constitutes    courage, 
fortitude,   etc. 

(d)  Profit. 
Strain 

(a)  Poverty. 

(b)  Line  of  descent. 

(c)  To  break. 

(d)  A  Canadian  lumberman's  ax. 
Streamful 

(a)  Profuse   weeping. 

(b)  Flowing  with  a  full   stream. 

(c)  Undoubting  assurance. 

(d)  In   grammar,    a   word   that   af- 
firms existence. 

Striker 

(a)  An    employee     who    leaves    his 
work  in  an  endeavor  to  force  his 
employer    to    accede   to    some    de- 
mand. 

(b)  A  levy  or  tax. 

(c)  More    striking   in    appearance. 

(d)  An  assortment  of  types  of  one 
style. 

Structureless 

(a)  Devoid   of   arrangement. 

(b)  Weak.  x 

(c)  Morally  degraded. 

(d)  Without  material. 
Subprincipal 

(a)  Any  person  under  the  direction 
of   a   principal. 

(b)  A  truth  or  doctrine  not  strictly 
fundamental. 

(c)  Unsettled. 

(d)  A  vice-principal. 

Sulk 

(a)  To   be   in   a   dilemma. 

(b)  To  be   artful. 

(c)  A  coward. 

(d)  Be   sullen. 


Sundered 

(a)  Brought  together. 

(b)  Inverted. 

(c)  Disunited. 

(d)  Directed. 

Supreme 

(a)  Dough  formed  into  strips,  dried 
and  used  in  soups. 

(b)  Culmination. 

(c)  One    of    a    tribe    that    wanders 
about. 

(d)  That  which  may  not  be  doubted. 

Surmise 

(a)  A    conjecture    made     on    slight 
evidence. 

(b)  Particle     marking    the     second 
part  of  a  negative  proposition. 

(c)  A  cooking  utensil. 

(d)  Indomitable. 

Surveyance 

(a)  A  small  projection  with  an  ori- 
fice. 

b)  A  thorough  discussion. 

c)  Inspection. 

d)  Deduction. 
Sweepage 

(a)  Dirt  or  debris  of  any  sort. 

(b)  The   vesture  of   land   taken   by 
mowing. 

(c)  A  court  knave. 

(d)  Range  of  vision. 

Syllogistic 

(a)  Puzzling. 

(b)  Inductive,  as  opposed  to  deduc- 
tive. 

(c)  Deductive,  as  opposed  to  induc- 
tive. 

(d)  Exasperating. 

Table 

(a)  The  summit  of  a  mountain. 

(b)  A  domestic  fowl. 

(c)  An  article  of  furniture  having 
a  flat  horizontal  top. 

(d)  To  nurse  the  sick. 

Taedium 

(a)  A    soft    composition    of    meal, 
bran,   etc.,   applied  to   sores. 

b)  Irksomeness. 

c)  A   stringed   instrument. 

d)  An  unpleasant  task. 

Take-all 

(a)  An    exclamation    of   disgust. 

(b)  A   family   conveyance. 

(c)  An  unscrupulous  beggar. 

(d)  Exhaustion  of  the  soil. 

Tally 

a)  To  direct. 

b)  To   attempt  to   dissuade. 

c)  An  account  or  reckoning, 
(d)  A  group  of  figures. 


108 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Tamboura 

(a)  A  wire-stringed  musical  instru- 
ment. 

(b)  A   striking   headdress. 

(c)  A  metallic  whistle. 

(d)  A   field-mouse  of   Southern   Af- 
rica. 

Tap 

(a)  An  inclosure  where  liquors  are 
served. 

(b)  An     arrangement     for  drawing 
out  liquids. 

(c)  To   condense. 

(d)  A  small  peg. 

Tarpon 

(a)  A  long.barbed  spear. 

(b)  A   combination  of   pulleys. 

(c)  To  gather  into   folds. 

(d)  A   silver   fish   of   the    West   In- 
dies and  other  sections. 

Tauten 

(a)  To  pucker. 

(b)  Haughty. 

(c)  Characterized  by  gentleness. 

(d)  Tighten. 

Tearful 

(a)  Abounding  with  tears. 

(b)  Characterized  by   a  weak,   cow- 
ardly spirit. 

(c)  To   weep  without   cause. 

(d)  Open-hearted. 

Telegraphist 

(a)  A   transmitter. 

(b)  One    who    believes    in    the    doc- 
trines advanced  by  Socrates. 

(c)  An     entire     telegraph     system, 
taken   collectively. 

(d)  A  telegrapher. 

Temper 

(a)  To  lisp. 

(b)  A  form  of  worship. 

!c)  More  up-to-date, 
d)  Heat  of  mind  or  passion. 
Terse 

(a)  Short  and  pointed. 

(b)  Worn  out  by  use,  or  very  com- 
mon. 

(c)  Beat   severely. 

(d)  Angry. 
Themselves 

(a)  In  heraldry. 

(b)  Three  of  a  kind. 

(c)  Plural  of  himself,  herself,  itself. 

(d)  The  quality  of  having  force. 
Thermalgesia 

A  craving  for  warmth. 
Unusual    sensibility    to    heat. 
A    thermometer    for    very    high 
temperatures, 
(d)  Moisture    of    high    temperature. 


Thorax 

(a)  In    Oxford,    a   beginning    Latin 
course. 

(b)  The   part  of  the   body   between 
the  neck  and  the  abdomen. 

(c)  A  disease  common  among  sheep 

(d)  A   vulture. 
Three 

(a)  Sovereignty. 

(b)  To   perplex. 

(c)  A  contrivance  for  retarding  the 
motion  of  wheels,  etc. 

(d)  The    sum    of    two    and    one ;    a 
cardinal    number. 

Thumb-band 

(a)  A  twist  of  anything  as  thick  as 
the   thumb. 

(b)  Handcuff   or   manacle. 

(c)  Fetters  or  shackles  of  any  kind. 

(d)  A    strip    of    cloth    wound   about 
the  thumb. 

Ticketing 

(a)  A  small   spike  found  in  plants. 

(b)  The  act  of  affixing  or  providing 
with  tickets. 

(c)  A     Chinese      game    similar      to 
checkers. 

(d)  A  small  unpalatable  lake-fish. 
Time 

(a)  An  enigmatical  personage. 

(b)  Ceaseless. 

(c)  Ultimate  death. 

(d)  A  definite  portion   of  duration. 
Timothy 

(a)  The  brake  on   a  freight   car. 

(b)  A    valuable     perennial    fodder- 
grass  or  hay. 

(c)  A    musical    instrument     similar 
to   the   accordion. 

(d)  A    concordance. 
Tiresmith 

(a)  A  maker  of  tires  for  carriages. 

(b)  A    sea-unicorn. 

(c)  Nascent. 

(d)  A  thin,  narrow  bar  of  iron. 
Tobacco 

(a)  Vile. 

(b)  The  leaves  of  the  tobacco-plant 
prepared     in     various     ways     for 
smoking,  chewing,  etc. 

(c)  Nauseous. 

(d)  Anything  causing  degeneration. 
Tote 

(a)  A   plane-handle. 

(b)  To  protest. 

(c)  Expressive    of    disdain. 

(d)  An  ornament  in  the  gable  of  a 
house. 

Townward 

(a)  Upward. 

(b)  In  the  direction  of  a  town. 

(c)  A      small     migratory     bird     of 
Southern  Europe. 

(d)  To   a   lower  level. 


APPENDIX 


109 


Tradition 

(a)  A    flowing    in. 

(b)  Deliverance  of  a  criminal  to  an- 
other  government. 

(c)  Knowledge,  opinions,  etc.,  trans- 
mitted from  generation  to  gener- 
ation. 

(d)  Utter  loss  or  ruin. 
Transaudient 

(a)  An    instrument    for     detecting 
very    feeble    sound    vibrations. 

(b)  The  condition  arising  when  one 
sound  wave  comes  into  close  prox- 
imity  to   another. 

(c)  Facilitating  the  transmission  of 
sound. 

(d)  Causing   refraction  of  sound. 

Transitable 

(a)  Of  short  duration. 

(b)  Changeable. 

(c)  A   support   for   a   surveying   in- 
strument. 

(d)  That  which  may  be  crossed. 
Transmutationist 

(a)  A   transformist. 

(b)  One  opposed  to  radical  changes. 

(c)  One   who    condemns. 

(d)  One    who     passes     through     or 
over  anything. 

Treescape 

(a)  A   small   parasitic   insect   living 
in  the  bark  of  trees. 

(b)  A  kind  of  woodpecker. 

(c)  A  picture  of  woodland  scenes. 

(d)  A  variety  of  tall  weeds. 
Trifler 

(a)  One   who   idles  or  toys. 

(b)  A  trefoil. 

(c)  Worth    less. 

(d)  One     who     weaves     baskets     of 
willow  twigs. 

Trip 

(a)  A   tortoise. 

(b)  A  flock. 

(c)  A   crow. 

(d)  A  sock. 

Trouble 

(a)  A  state  of  distress,  worry,  etc. 

(b)  A    three-leaved     plant,    as     the 
clover. 

(c)  A  dove-cot. 

(d)  Marriage. 

Truss 

(a)  Female  of  the  caribou. 

(b)  To   coat   or   plaster. 

(c)  Short   and  thick. 

(d)  A  series  of  concentric  circles. 
Tumble 

(a)  A  small  toad. 

(b)  A    sudden    fall. 

(c)  To    obstruct. 

(d)  A  grassy  meadow. 


Twitteration 

(a)  Gossip. 

(b)  The  state  of  being  in  a  flutter. 

(c)  The  act  of  taunting. 

(d)  Discordant  singing. 
Unobserving 

(a)  Not  giving  attention. 

(b)  Barking  or  howling 

(c)  The  spot  at  which  French   nav- 
igators first  touch  ground. 

(d)  Mutilating. 

Undershot 

(a)  Wounded. 

(b)  A  dum-dum   bullet. 

(c)  Propelled    by    water    that    flows 
underneath. 

(d)  Grapeshot  and  canister. 

Unicity 

(a)  The   state  of  being   divided. 

(b)  The    condition    of   being    inhar- 
monious. 

(c)  The  quality  of  being  unique. 

(d)  Peevishness. 

Unit 

(a)  A  measure  of  force. 

(b)  To  join  together. 

(c)  A      single  f person,      thing,      or 
group  regarded  as  an  individual. 

(d)  The   egg  of   certain   insects,   as 
the  louse. 

Unitarian 

(a)  One    of      an    order      of   Roman 
Catholic   women,   for  the   nursing 
of  the   sick   and  the    teaching  of 
young  girls. 

(b)  One  who   favors  union. 

(c)  A  hermit. 

(d)  A  member  of  any  religious  body 
that    rejects    the    doctrine    of    the 
Trinity. 

Unpurse 

(a)  To  liquidate. 

(b)  To  spend  extravagantly. 

(c)  To  rob  of  money. 

(d)  To  open  a  purse. 
Up-hill 

(a)  Densely  settled. 

(b)  Up   an   ascent  or  against   diffi- 
culties. 

(c)  Pertaining  to  horses. 

(d)  Causing  tension. 
Urgency 

(a)  An  organ  of  the  body. 

(b)  The  condition  of  being  pressing. 

(c)  That   which    is   pleasing   to   the 
people. 

(d)  A  precipitate. 
Uterus 

(a)  Womb. 

(b)  In  entirety. 

(c)  Of  no  intrinsic  value. 

(d)  Having  intrinsic  value. 


110 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Vaginant 

Pertaining   to   maidenhood. 
Sheathing. 


(a) 
(b) 
(c) 


(c)   Skillful. 
(d) 


A    female   organ    having    to   do 
with  reproduction. 

Value 

(a)  Antagonistic. 

(b)  True  friendship. 

(c)  Worth. 

(d)  To   inherit. 

Variable 

(a)  That  which  is  subject  to  change 

(b)  That   which   cannot   change. 

(c)  Healthy. 

(d)  Unhealthy. 
Vault 

(a)  Entrance. 

(b)  To  boast  or  brag  of. 

(c)  An   ornamental    hollow   vessel. 

(d)  An   arched   apartment. 
Velveted 

(a)  Relaxed. 

(b)  Having  a  surface  like  velvet. 

(c)  Beautiful. 

(d)  Experienced. 
Venticular 

(a)  Being  of  the  nature  of  a  small 
vent. 

(b)  Pertaining  to  the  heart. 

(c)  Pertaining  to  veins. 

(d)  Pertaining  to  arteries. 
Vest 

(a)  A   short   sleeveless   jacket. 

(b)  A  prune. 

(c)  To   speculate. 

(d)  A  room  in  which  the  vestments 
are   kept  and   parochial    meetings 
are  held. 

Virgin's-bower 

(a)  A  flowering  plant,  a  species  of 
clematis. 

(b)  In    a    wedding     ceremony,      an 
arch  of  flowers  through  which  the 
bride  enters. 

(c)  A   hammock. 

(d)  A   cool,   unmolested   nook. 
Wafer-ash 

(a)  A  thin  disk  of  wood  from  which 
carriage  washers   are  cut. 

(b)  A  small  green  snake. 

(c)  In    bakeries,     refuse    dough    or 
crumbs. 

(d)  The  hop-tree. 
Waiver 

(a)  A   flat   ring  of   iron   or   leather 
between  the  nave  of  a  wheel  and 
the    linchpin. 

(b)  One  who   waves. 

(c)  To    be    unsteady     or     undeter- 
mined. 

(d)  The    voluntary     relinquishment 
of  a  right. 


Walk 

(a)  A   stinging  insect  allied  to  the 
hornet. 

(b)  A  body  of  civil  officers  for  pre- 
serving order,  etc. 

(c)  The    primitive   method    of    loco- 
motion. 

(d)  To  put  on. 
Watcher 

(a)  A  very  small  watch. 

(b)  One    who    observes    attentively, 
etc. 

(c)  A  bobolink. 

(d)  A  spool  or  reel. 
Water 

(a)  A  knife  used  by  Igorrotes. 

(b)  A  common  liquid   compound  of 
hydrogen   and  oxygen. 

(c)  Concrete. 

(d)  To   forgive. 
Wauble 

(a)  A   worthless  toy. 

(b)  To  cause  to  sway  unsteadily. 

(c)  A  weapon  used  by  the  Siamese. 

(d)  Existing  only  in  name. 
Weel 

(a)  A  fish-trap  made  of  twigs  and 
rushes. 

(b)  A  shrub  bearing  edible  red  ber- 
ries. 

(c)  A  sea  duck  sought  for  its  down. 

(d)  A  donkey. 
Weight 

(a)  Buoyancy. 

(b)  Downward  pressure  due  to  grav- 
ity. 

(c)  A  point  or  horn. 

(d)  To  postpone  action. 
Wheatear 

(a)  A  tear  shed  in  anger. 

(b)  A   furze-bush. 

(c)  A  bird  found  in  northern  lands. 

(d)  The  rice-bird. 
White 

(a)  Having  a  light  shade  or  color. 

(b)  Absence  of  light. 

(c)  Lovely. 

(d)  To  shave  closely. 
Will 

(a)  Any   striped   cat. 

(b)  To  exercise  the  faculty  of  voli- 
tion. 

(c)  A  trail. 

(d)  Vagrant. 
Wind 

Cal   To  stamp. 

(b)  Flight. 

(c)  A  current  of  air. 

(d)  To   shrink. 
Woodcut 

(a.)   Corded    wood. 

(b)  An  animal  closely  allied  to  the 
crroundhog. 

(c)  A  road  through  a  dense  forest. 

(d)  A  wood-engraving. 


APPENDIX 


111 


Word-coinage 

(a)  Slang. 

(b)  The  practice  of  inventing  words 
for  special  occasions. 

(c)  Classification  of  words. 

(d)  State  of  being  precise  in  speech. 
Workless 

(a)  Useless. 

(b)  Female   beetle. 

(c)  Wife  of  an  Ethiopion  army  of- 
ficer. 

(d)  Having  no  work. 
Wreckage 

(a)  Infwsion  of  malt  before  fermen- 
tation. 

(b)  Material  from  a  wreck. 

(c)  A  twisting  or  sprain. 

(d)  Act    of    preventing     the    trans- 
mission of  a  cablegram. 


Yell 

Xanthine. 

A  sharp,  loud,  inarticulate  cry. 
To   expostulate, 
(d)  Proverbial. 

Zincous 

(a)  Soft. 

(b)  Pertaining   to   zinc. 

(c)  Impudent. 

(d)  An  etching  on  a  zinc  plate. 

Zootic 

(a) In  confusion. 

(b)  Pertaining  to  the  zoo. 

(c)  Containing  evidences  of  former 
life. 

(d)  Hallelujah. 


112       VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


KEY  TO  LABORATORY  TEST  SHEET  A. 


Aabec  (c)  ;  absolute  (c)  ;  accidental  (d)  ;  actio  (d)  ;  addressee  (a) 
adjust  (c)  ;  adroit  (a)  ;  affect  (b)  ;  aft  (c)  ;  agglomerant  (a)  ;  ahead  (d) 
air  (b)  ;  air-tight  (a)  ;  alder  (b)  ;  all  (a)  ;  alternate  (a)  ;  amalgamable  (b) 
Americanism  (d)  ;  amorrow  (b)  ;  analog  (b)  ;  ancestral  (c)  ;  ane.nometer 

(b)  ;    angler    (a)  ;    anti    (d)  ;    antiparallel    (c)  ;    anxious    (b)  ;    apices    (b) 
apprehensive    (c)  ;    aqueous    (b)  ;    architecture    (a)  ;    areach    (d)  ;    arm    (d) 
arrant    (b)  ;    artful    (a)  ;    associate    (d)  ;    atom    (b)  ;    attorney-general    (a) 
augury  (c)  ;  authorized  (a)  ;  ave  (d)  ;  avow  (c)  ;  Backwoods  (b)  ;  bailee 

(c)  ;   bale    (b)  ;   balsamous    (a)  ;  bar    (b)  ;   bargained    (c)  ;   baronetage    (b) 
baseball   (d)  ;  bassoon  (b)  ;  battening  (a)  ;  baubling  (a)  ;  bear  (d)  ;  beechen 

(c)  ;  beholden  (c)  ;  bellmouth   (c)  ;  benefice  (b)  ;  bereave  (a)  ;  best  (d)  ;  bill- 
ing (d)  ;  black   (a)  ;  blame  (d)  ;  blemished   (c)  ;  block   (c)  ;  blubber  (d)  ;  bolt 
<a)  ;  bone-cartilage    (d)  ;   brachia    (c)  ;   bran    (d)  ;  breacher    (a)  ;  breathable 
(b)  ;    bridgewater    (b)  ;    brood     (c)  ;    brush    (c)  ;    buckish     (d)  ;    build    (a)  ; 
burden   (b)  ;  burro   (a)  ;  bust   (a)  ;  butler   (b)  ;  by   (b)  ;  Cable   (c)  ;  calf 

(a)  ;  canage  (d)  ;  canopy  (a)  ;  cartilage  (a)  ;  cast-iron  (d)  ;  categorical  (b)  ; 
cathead  (d)  ;  cavil   (a)  ;  cella  (a)  ;  center   (d)  ;  certification   (b)  ;  chain   (d)  ; 
chameleon    (d)  ;  charge-sheet    (a)  ;  chaste    (c)  ;  chiasm    (b)  ;   chimerize    (d)  ; 
chirpling(c)  ;  chromosphere  (b)  ;  chuck(b)  ;  church(b)  ;  circumcision  (a)  ;  cit- 
rous^) ;    clip(c)  ;    coak(c)  ;    cobby(a)  ;    cochineal(b)  ;    code(d)  ;    cogger(b)  ; 
coin  (d)  ;    colorable  (a)  ;    compart  (c)  ;    compelled  (c)  ;    compositor  (d)  ;    con- 
ception   (b)  ;   conferential    (b)  ;   congratulation    (d)  ;   connivent    (b)  ;   consist 

(b)  ;    constriction    (d)  ;    continental    (a)  ;    contralto    (d)  ;    contribution    (d)  ; 
conviction    (d)  ;    corn    (a)  ;    corosif    (c)  ;    countenance    (a)  ;    coupled    (d)  ; 
cow    (a)  ;    crank    (d)    creditability    (a)  ;    crib    (c)  ;    croche    (b)  ;   cross    (a)  ; 
cruciferous   (b)  ;  crystalliform   (d)  ;  cupboard   (c)  ;  current   (b)  ;  customance 
(b)  ;  Da  capo   (a)  ;  daub    (c)  ;  debate   (d)  ;  decagon    (b)  ;  declare    (b)  ; 
deeducational    (d)  ;   deformation    (a)  ;  deleble    (a)  ;   demagogic    (b)  ;  despite 
(b)  ;   desulphurize    (c)  ;   diamond    (d)  ;  dibasic    (b)  ;   die    (d)  ;   diminish    (b)  ; 
directness    (a)  ;   discarnate    (c)  ;   disclamation    (c)  ;   diseased    (c)  ;   dismayed 

(a)  ;   distinctive    (b)  ;   diversiflorous    (b)  ;  dock    (d)  ;   dolphinet    (a)  ;   double 

(d)  ;   downward    (b)  ;   dressmaker    (b)  ;   drone    (a)  ;   dry    (a)  ;   dunness    (a)  ; 
dyspepsia    (c)  ;  Ear    (b)  ;    earth    (c)  ;    eccentric    (c)  ;    educated    (a)  ; 
electricize   (d)  ;  element   (a)  ;  elk   (c)  ;  embrace   (c)  ;  enclad   (c)  ;  engineered 

(b)  ;  enough   (c)  ;  entity   (b)  ;  equational    (d)  ;  err   (d)  ;  estately    (b)  ;  ethize 
(d)  ;  every-day   (d)  ;  executioner   (a)  ;  expiatory   (d)  ;  extrinsic   (b)  ;  Fa- 
bler  (b)  ;  fag   (d)  ;   fall    (a)  ;   fanciless    (d)  ;   feathering    (d)  ;   fellow-servant 
(d)  ;    ferment    (a)  ;    fetch    (b)  ;    fictitious    (b)  ;    figurative    (c)  ;    filose    (c) 
finn  (a)  ;  firedrake  (a)  ;  fish   (b)  ;  flag  (a)  ;  flat  (a)  ;  fleshen  (b)  ;  floatingly 
(d)  ;  flowerage  (c)  ;  flush   (c)  ;  focusing  (c)  ;  foraminifera  (d)  ;  forefeel   (d) 
form    (d)  ;    fortify    (b)  ;    Friday    (c)  ;    frondivorous    (c)  ;    functional     (c) 
Garnet    (b)  ;   gastronomic    (d)  ;   gear    (a)  ;   general    (a)  ;   genty    (b)  ;   george 

(a)  ;   ginger    (c)  ;   glycerin    (c)  ;   goatee    (d)  ;   goggle    (c)  ;   goldenback    (b) 
good   (c)  ;  goshawk   (a)  ;  graine  (b)  ;  granule   (c)  ;  grass   (a)  ;  grayback  (d) 
greenable    (b)  ;   grog    (c)  ;  gross    (b)  ;   grudge    (d)  ;   gulfed    (b)  ;   gun-reach 

(b)  ;   gymnospermae    (a)  ;  Hammer    (c)  ;    handless    (b)  ;    hand-nut    (c) 
harbored    (c)  ;   harmonical    (a)  ;   harvester    (d)  ;   hazer    (b)  ;   heart    (b)  ;   he1- 
meted    (a)  ;    hemic    (c)  ;    hemispheric    (d)  ;    heretical     (d)  ;    hierarchy     (c) 
holler    (c)  ;    honorable    (d)  ;    horse-tamer    (b)  ;    house    (c)  ;    humiliant    (d) 
hymnology   (d)  ;  hypnotize   (d)  ;  Ice  (a)  ;  icy   (c)  ;  idolater   (a)  ;  imagin- 
iational    (b)  ;   impaction    (c)  ;   improperation    (a)  ;   inaugural    (d)  ;   includible 


APPENDIX  113 


(b)  ;  incrustata    (a)  ;  individualize    (b)  ;  inebriate   (a)  ;  infima    (a)  ;  inform 
(d)  ;  infuriate  (b)  ;  initiator  (b)  ;  inoccupation  (a)  ;  inset  (c)  ;  instrumental 
(a)  ;   interested    (c)  ;   intimidation    (b)  ;    invariant    (a)  ;    iron    (d)  ;   irritable 
(a)  ;  isochronize   (a)  ;         Jade   (c)  ;  Jesuitic   (b)  ;  jigger   (b)  ;  jointage   (c) 
jujube   (b)  ;  Key    (c)  ;  kick    (b)  ;  king-bird  (c)  ;  knight    (b)  ;  knowingly 
(d)  ;           Lamented  (a)  ;  lamp    (d)  ;  land-tortoise   (b)  ;  lanterned   (b)  ;  large 

(c)  ;   latered    (c)  ;   law    (a)  ;   lay    (b)  ;   leafage    (d)  ;   leaven    (a)  ;   leech    (b) 
leonine    (c)  ;  lessoned   (c)  ;   levee    (d)  ;  lie    (b)  ;   light    (b)  ;   lilyfy    (b)  ;   lines 
man    (c)  ;  link    (c)  ;   liquorice    (c)  ;   loche    (a)  ;   loded    (a)  ;   looked    (b)  ;   lose 
(a)  ;   lovelily    (a)  ;   lunge    (b)  ;  Madder    (d)  ;   magnesia    (d)  ;   make    (c) 
mammilla   (d)  ;  mannikin    (d)  ;  marketable    (b)  ;  masquerade   (d)  ;  mat-rush 

(d)  ;   mavis    (a)  ;   may    (d)  ;    measure    (d)  ;    memorative    (a)  ;    mesozoa    (c) 
metrical   (b)  ;  micrology   (c)  ;  midwinter  (d)  ;  mill   (a)  ;  mind   (b)  ;  minotaur 
(d)  ;    missy    (b)  ;    mitral    (a)  ;    modiste    (b)  ;    monodactyl     (c)  ;    mons    (a) 
moor-coot(b)  ;    mortifiedness(b)  ;    motioned(c)  ;    mountain(d)  ;    mowing(a) 
mummy    (c)  ;   muscle    (a)  ;   muskrat    (b)  ;   mutter    (a)  ;  Necessary    (b) 
neglect    (b)  ;    nervule    (c)  ;    nightcap    (a)  ;    nobodyness    (c)  ;    northeast    (c) 
nothingly    (d)  ;    nursedom    (c)  ;            Oak-tanned    (c)  ;    obligancy    (b)  ;   octa 
pody   (b)  ;  on   (a)  ;  oratorical   (a)  ;  order   (b)  ;  ornamental    (c)  ;  ostentatious 

(a)  ;   outscout(d)  ;   overflow(b)  ;   oviducal(a)  ;  Packery(a)  ;   pageant(a) 
painstaking    (d)  ;    paper-faced    (c)  ;    paraphernalia    (d)  ;    partial    (b)  ;    pass 

(b)  ;  pastoral   (b)  ;  pea-comb  (a)  ;  pectoral   (b)  ;  peeped  (c)  ;  pelviform  (d) 
pennate    (b)  ;    perimeter    (d)  ;    perling    (b)  ;    persist    (b)  ;    Phi    Beta    Kappa 

(a)  ;   pickle    (b)  ;   pigeon-English    (c)  ;   pine    (c)  ;   pipe    (d)  ;   piu    (c)  ;  plain 

(b)  ;  plane   (c)  ;  planting-ground    (c)  ;  Platonist   (d)  ;  plot    (c)  ;  plume   (c) 
pneumatical    (a)  ;    poisoned    (c)  ;    policeman    (b)  ;    pollen    (c)  ;    polyangular 
(a)  ;    pond-pine    (a)  ;    popper    (a)  ;    port    (c)  ;    positional    (c)  ;    potent    (c) 
precent   (d)  ;  prefecture   (a)  ;  prepended    (d)  ;  presidencia   (c)  ;  pretext   (b) 
primary    (b)  ;   print    (c)  ;    privative    (b)  ;    processal    (b)  ;    professorate    (c) 
projectable    (c)  ;   proliferation    (a)  ;   proofy    (d)  ;   prudish    (c)  ;    puffed    (a) 
puma    (c)  ;    pupilage    (d)  ;  Quarter    (d)  ;    queened    (c)  ;    quietant    (b) 
Race   (d)  ;  radial    (a)  ;  rail-snipe    (b)  ;  rate   (a)  ;  ravished    (b)  ;  reader   (a) 
recall   (b)  ;  reconcile   (a)  ;  red   (a)  ;  redskin   (c)  ;  reformer   (a)  ;  relaxed   (c) 
remittance    (b)  ;    repel     (d)  ;    retentive    (a)  ;    returnable    (b)  ;    reviver    (b) 
rhetoricate  (d)  ;  ridge   (b)  ;  rily   (b)  ;  rippling   (a)  ;     roast   (a)  ;  roman   (b) 
roofer   (b)  ;   rootage   (b)  ;   rough    (a)  ;  rueful    (d)  ;   run    (d)  ;  Sahib    (a) 
salable     (b)  ;    sand-blast     (a)  ;    sauce     (c)  ;    scalp     (d)  ;    scatteratipn     (d) 
scratch    (b)  ;    scythe-hook    (a)  ;   secondary    (c)  ;   seditious    (b)  ;    seizing    (c) 
self-assumed   (b)  ;  self-possession   (d)  ;  semioval    (d)  ;  sensitive   (b)  ;  serpent 
(d)  ;  sessional    (d)  ;  shack   (b)  ;  sham    (b)  ;   sheep    (c)  ;  sheet   (c)  ;  shipshape 
(a)  ;  shoot   (b)  ;  shoulder-blade   (d)  ;  shunt   (a)  ;   side    (b)  ;  silly    (d)  ;  simul 
taneity    (b)  ;   singular    (d)  ;   sitting    (b)  ;   sky-blue    (b)  ;   sled    (b)  ;   slip    (c) 
slur    (c)  ;    smoke-stack    (c)  ;    snarl    (b)  ;    social    (a)  ;    socket    (a)  ;    sole    (a) 
sound   (b)  ;  spaceful    (d)  ;  specificity   (c)  ;  speech   (c)  ;  spice-tree   (c)  ;  spirit 
ally    (d)  ;   split    (d)  ;   sport    (d)  ;   sprinkle    (b)  ;   square    (c)  ;   stableman    (d) 
stale    (d)  ;    stare    (b)  ;    statics    (d)  ;    stint    (a)  ;    stopped    (a)  ;    strain    (b) 
streamful    (b)  ;  striker    (a)  ;  structureless    (a)  ;  subprincipal    (d)  ;   sulk    (d) 
sundered    (c)  ;   supreme    (b)  ;   surmise    (a)  ;   surveyance    (c)  ;   sweepage    (b) 
syllogistic    (c)  ;               Table    (c)  ;    taedium    (b)  ;    take-all     (d)  ;    tally    (c) 
tamboura   (a)  ;  tap    (b)  ;  tarpon    (d)  ;  tauten    (d)  ;  tearful    (a)  ;  telegraphist 
(d)  ;  temper  (d)  ;  terse   (a)  ;  themselves   (c)  ;  thermalgesia   (b)  ;  thorax   (b) 
three    (d)  ;   thumb-band    (a)  ;   ticketing    (b)  ;    time    (d)  ;   timothy    (b)  ;   tire 
smith    (a)  ;    tobacco    (b)  ;    tote    (a)  ;   townward    (b)  ;    tradition    (c)  ;    trans- 
audient    (c)  ;   transitable    (d)  ;   transmutationist    (a)  ;   treescape    (c)  ;   trifler 
(a)  ;    trip     (b)  ;    trouble     (a)  ;    truss     (c)  ;    tumble     (b)  ;    twitteration     (b) 
Unobserving    (a)  ;    undershot    (c)  ;    unicity    (c)  ;    unit    (c)  ;    Unitarian    (d) 
unpurse    (c)  ;    up-hill    (b)  ;    urgency    (b)  ;    uterus    (a)  ;            Vaginant    (b) 
value   (c)  ;  variable  (a)  ;  vault   (d)  ;  velveted   (b)  ;  venticular   (a)  ;  vest   (a) 
virgin's-bower(a)  ;               Wafer-ash  (d)  ;    waiver  (d)  ;    walk(c)  ;    watcher  (b) 
water    (b)  ;   wauble    (b)  ;   weel    (a)  ;  weight    (b)  ;  wheatear    (c)  ;   white   (a) 
will    (b)  ;  wind   (c)  ;  woodcut   (d)  ;  word-coinage   (b)  ;  workless   (d)  ;  wreck- 
age   (b)  ;           Yell    (b)  ;           Zincous    (b)  ;           zootic    (c). 


114 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


LABORATORY  TEST  SHEET  B. 


Give  a  working  definition  for  each  of  the  following  words  with  which 
you  are  familiar: 


Abbozzo 

Abderian 

Ablegate 

Acadialite 

Acemetic 

Acinaces 

Acroke 

Acuate 

Aedicula 

Agraph 

Albaras 

Algesia 

Allomorphite 

Almemar 

Amelification 

Ametropia 

Ampycidae 

Anisocnemic 

Anomatheca 

Antennaria 

Anthrax 

Aposthia 

Applanation 

Area 

Argentamid 

Arundo 

Ash-cat 

Asplenium 

Astragalocalcaneum 

Athanatism 

Atrichiidae 

Austrium 

Ayme 

Babul 

Bagaty 

Banie 

Baya 

Beauvais's  disease 

Bezique 

Bicessis 

Biduous 

Biradial 

Bischofite 

B'nai  B'rith 

Boeotian 

Boongary 

Boschveld 

Boucherism 

Bowdlerize 

Breedling 

Briza 

Bulnbuln 

Cadus 


Calata 

Calocub 

Cameloidea 

C'anin 

Cantharic 

Capischolus 

Capulincillo 

Carcinoma 

Carinate 

Carper 

Casern 

Cataphract 

Caucho 

Cerasite 

Chanterelle 

C'haradriidae 

Checkle 

Chermes 

Choil 

Chorionitis 

Cinchonales 

Claribella 

Clavo 

Clepe 

Cloue 

Colchicum 

Colletic 

Comatula 

Commandancia 

Commoration 

Cond 

Copaiye-wood 

Coral-tree 

Corsie 

Cotgare 

Craiget 

Cuitikins 

Cumming 

Cyclamose 

Cyperus 

Damajavag 

Dap 

Dead-angle 

Demot 

Deoperculate 

Derasha 

Desiderate 

Deversoir 

Diabantite 

Digeny 

Diphenylene 

Disquisition 

Dogger 


APPENDIX 


115 


Doon 

Doseh 

Dravite 

Dugon 

Button's 

Ecphysis 

Eggeba 


disease 


Emaunche 

Emendation 

Empleomania 

Endorachis 

Eosphorite 

Epicyemate 

Episkeletal 

Epulosis 

Eranos 

Esrhynite 

Eugenolate 

Eutaxiology 

Excamb 

Ex  cogitable 

Exomion 

Exsiliency 

farraginous 

Fatiscence 

Fisk 

Fontange 

Fores 

Foune 

Foxing 

Frankeniaceae 

Freet 

Fuchsinophil 

Fulminic 

Furodiazole 

Gabella 

Galago 

Gallobromol 

Gandi 

Genoblast 

Geromarasmus 

Gibbon 

Glactalin 

Glauberite 

Glonoin 

Gra 

Grimp 

Gubernaculum 

Hachis 

Hairbranch-tree 

Halisteresis 

Hauture 

Heberden's  disease 

Heilaman 

Heptadecad 

Heshwan 

Heteroxanthin 

Himation 

Hirsel 

Hobbledepoise 

Hoi 

Holonarcosis 

Homofocal 

Hoplology 


Horrisonous 

Huck-muck 

Hurlyhawkie 

Hydnaceae 

Hydropathic 

Hypozeugma 

Illaenus 

Immissivity 

Imphee     . 

Indiadem 

Intemperies 

Interparoxysmal 

Involucel 

lodidate 

Itaka-wood 

Iztli 

Japish 

Jeffersonite 

Joanese 

Joyance 

Jurdon 

Kadosh 

Kanari 

Kava 

Kene 

Kiku 

Kitcat 

Korora 

Kutch 

Labyrinthula 

Lacunule 

Lakao 

Lauk 

Legabile 

Lek 

Libelluline 

Lincture 

Litiscontestation 

Llume 

Loller 

Lubricous 

Lucken 

Lych 

Lysodactylae 

Machineel 

Mahogo 

Malengine 

Manege 

Maori-head 

Margelidae 

Marshite 

Matachin 

Mechal 

Meconioid 

Medusome 

Melasmic 

Mephistophelian 

Merocoxalgia 

Metalammonium 

Metamorphist 

Methanal 

Mischanter 

Mkungu 

Molet 

Monethyl 

Morgen 


116 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


Moup 

Mulet 

Myristicivorous 

Nacarat 

Nanmu 

Nark 

Nasion 

Naukar 

Neo-Pythagorean 

Neurula 

Niblick 

Nither 

Noeggerathia 

Noningerence 

Nuciferous 

Obumbrant 

Odize 

Oecological 

Ogee 

Oilet 

Olinia 

Oolak 

Ophileta 

Opsonin 

Oreodontidae 

Organacidia 

Ortygan 

Ouf 

Oxytone 

Paleophysiology 

Palmetum 

Pancoline 

Panotype 

Paradenitis 

Paresoanalgesia 

Paroissien 

Patrice 

Paviser 

Pentatrematoid 

Pepinillo 

Peregrinate 

Pesade 

Petronel 

Pharaon 

Phlogogenous 

Phorometer 

Phosphoryl 

Phronetal 

Physiotype 

Pilocystic 

Pisum 

Pleiad 

Poffle 

Polyphonism 

Posticum 

Poundal 

Praetergum 

Preabdpmen 

Propositum 

Protactic 

Prototypal 

Pseudoscorpiones 

Pteropaedes 

Pundigrion 

Pursuivant 

Pylorus 


Pyrrodiazole 

Quadrumanous 

Quitantie 

Radiobe 

Rammelsbergite 

Raoulia 

Ree 

Regnarok 

Reps 

Residencia      * 

Respondentia 

Rhyparia 

Rockweed 

Roseolae 

Roxy 

Russium 

Sabeca 

Sacrosanct 

Saintpaulia 

Salpicon 

Samech 

Santon 

Sargo 

Saxhorn 

Schisma 

Schoenus 

Scirenga 

Scorkle 

Scronach 

Sealwort 

Septuncial 

Seu 

Shealing 

She-sole 

Signa 

Sinophile 

Skiamachy 

Snucks 

Somatology 

Sopsavine 

Sparpil 

Sphaerosiderite 

Spike-team 

Stanhope 

Staumrel 

Steem 

Stephoidea 

Stibonium 

Stomacephalus 

Sturnidae 

Subelaphine 

Succedaneous 

Suffumige 

Superoccipital 

Swallowwort 

Swinge 

Synaptase 

Syntypic 

Tenebrio 

Terebra 

Tetradon 

Thallome 

Thienone 

Tilefish 

Tolosa-wood 

Tonsure 


APPENDIX  117 


Toran  Volapuk 

Traveling-couvert  Vorticidae 

Triassic  Wanigan 

Trivoltin  Warnestore 

Tube-sealer  Weapon-salve 

Tundra  Wergild 

Turkic  Whincow 

Tussemose  Whudder 

Tyrociny  Winebergite 

Ululant  Wireangle 

Uncharnel  Woaded 

Venust  Wype 

Veronal  Yaip 

Vicontiel  Yorker 

Vincetoxicum  Zapote 
Vitellophag 

For  definitions  to  the  above  list  see  Funk  and  Wagnalls  New  Standard 
Dictionary  of  the  English  Language,  1916. 


118 


VOCABULARY  STUDIES 


LABORATORY  TEST  SHEET  C. 


The  following  list  represents  one  hundred  words  arranged  in  order  of 
difficulty  as  determined  by  the  test  sheets  used  at  Colorado  College: 


1.  adjust 

2.  consist 

3.  tradition 

4.  authorized 

5.  unobserving 

6.  tumble 

7.  bereave 

8.  sham 

9.  sensitive 

10.  wreckage 

11.  associate 

12.  harbored 

13.  surmise 

14.  intimidation 

15.  addressee 

16.  artful 

17.  grudge 

18.  drone 

19.  stint 

20.  ahead 

21.  rate 

22.  urgency 
28.  perimeter 

24.  deformation 

25.  projectable 

26.  compelled 

27.  vault 

28.  adroit 

29.  spacefill 

30.  desulphurize 

31.  terse 

32.  augury 

33.  bone-cartilage 

34.  specificity 

35.  semioval 

36.  initiator 

37.  surveyance 

38.  decagon 

39.  rueful 

40.  simultaneity 

41.  mannikin 


42.  anti 

43.  functional 

44.  fabler 

45.  jointage 

46.  puma 

47.  apprehensive 

48.  memorative 

49.  disclamation 

50.  woodcut 

51.  deeducational 

52.  inebriate 

53.  anemometer 

54.  radial 

55.  apices 

56.  expiatory 

57.  contralto 

58.  jade 

59.  nothingly 

60.  extrinsic 

61.  tauten 

62.  shunt 

63.  hierarchy 

64.  forefeel 

65.  baronetage 

66.  dunness 

67.  lilyfy 

68.  seditious 

69.  agglomerant 

70.  battening 

71.  ave 

72.  transitable 

73.  creditability 

74.  analog 

75.  mavis 

76.  pennate 

77.  syllogistic 

78.  cruciferous 

79.  categorical 

80.  baubling 

81.  goshawk 

82.  chromosphere 


APPENDIX  119 


83.  monodactyl  92.  nursedom 

84.  processal  93.  octapody 

85.  isochronize  94.  zootic 

86.  prepended  95.  thermalgesia 

87.  cella  96.  actio 

88.  jujube  97.  canage 

89.  diversiflorous  98.  graine 

90.  loche    .  99.  spiritally 

91.  chimerize  100.  aabec 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  the  above  list  would  be  of  very  little  value 
for  testing  any  except  college  students  and  adults.  A  thoroughly  adequate 
list  of  the  nature  of  that  suggested  above  would  necessarily  begin  with  the 
easiest  words  of  infancy  and  would  be  applicable  to  any  and  all  ages. 


120  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY  121 

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122  VOCABULARY  STUDIES 

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ciency Through  Teacher  Training. 


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